Modric’s sublime first-touch ‘meg: The act of Madrid’s great conductor
It might have been an unusual setting, but the sight of Real lifting the Spanish Super Cup with Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos, Marcelo, and Luka Modric all in the side is as normal as you can find in European football.
They may have had to wait 18 months for another title since the La Liga triumph two seasons ago,
But Real are football’s great orchestra for whom glitz, glamour, and glory are timeless.
Real play only the finest classical music and their appeal to many does not disappear despite the passing of the ages.
Regardless of the changes taking place around them, they continue to play footballing music exactly as they would have done 50 years ago, their reputation and status in the game seemingly immune to advances in the footballing landscape.
At its core is Modric, Real’s great conductor, whose ability seems as enduring as his club’s habit for winning trophies.
The Croatian produced a stunning display in the final, embodied by a nonchalant moment of heedless excellence when he nutmegged Athletic Club’s Mikel Vesga simply for daring to be in the same vicinity as him.
The focus could be on his goal because, oh yes, he scored the opener from the edge of the box with a scooping curling effort.
But as with any piece of classical music, the best bit is not the crescendo but the subtleties of the more technical, quieter moments. None were more impressive than the 36-year-old’s nutmeg.
The ball came over Modric’s head with Vesga bearing down on him, but rather than just bring it down and take on his opponent the Croatian opted to kill two birds with one stone.
He gracefully met the ball with his right foot not as it came down,
But as it went upwards after landing and rebounding off the floor.
Using the outside of his boot as a needle, he threaded the ball through the gap between Vesga’s legs and was away into the space behind. A Croat chef’s kiss of a nutmeg.
It was a wonderful moment from Modric who had an incredible game overall
But, just as with a conductor in an orchestra you cannot understand the full remit of his influence on Real simply by looking at him.
He influenced the entire game, keeping all the separate moving parts in time with one another to create a white wall of footballing noise that overwhelmed their Basque audience.
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