Real Madrid Star Luka Modric Named His Toughest Opponent Yet
To which he replied Andres Iniesta. The duo regularly clashed against each other in the El Clasico. The Real Madrid star said that it was always difficult to play against the Barcelona star.
Real Madrid star said “I always say Iniesta because it was so difficult to defend against him. He played on the left, I was playing on the right and when we played against Barca, it was so difficult. [He was] so good on the ball, quick thinking.”
Iniesta left La Liga in 2018 to play in Japan. Since his departure, Modric went on to win the Ballon D’ Or along with two La Ligas and one Champions League trophy.
Apart from Iniesta, Modric revealed some of the difficult players he faced in England. According to him Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard were also very tough opponents.
The former Dinamo Zagreb midfielder spent four years in the Premier League. It was at Tottenham Hotspur where he established a name for himself. Despite his limited physical ability, he was able to dominate in a physically tough Premier League.
However, despite spending four years in Premier League, the Croatian found Iniesta to be different from the two English legends. It is also important to remember that both Lampard and Gerrard were in their prime.
Modric said, “I played against so many great players in England like Lampard, Gerrard but this guy was different“. He also faced top players like Paul Scholes, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva, and Yaya Toure in the Premier League as well.
Since the outbreak of the Ronaldo-Messi duopoly on Ballon D Or, only the Croatian has managed to win the Ballon D Or in between. He won the Ballon d’Or for the year 2019 with around 700 points.
The Croatian explained to Rio Ferdinand that he is very proud of winning the Ballon D Or as a midfielder. He said, ” To win it in this era was amazing. For midfielders, it was not easy. Very proud of this. Amazing“. In recent times we have hardly seen a central midfielder win the award. The likes of Zinedine Zidane and Pavel Nedvěd largely played as attacking midfielders.
The Real Madrid star won the prestigious award for his brilliant 2018. He helped Real Madrid win the Champions League and under his captaincy, Croatia reached the World Cup final for the first time.
Currently, the former Spurs midfielder is helping Real Madrid challenge for three trophies. They are eight points behind Barca and they will face Liverpool in the Champions League Round of 16.
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