Real Madrid have a big midfield problem as another player goes down injured
The Real Madrid midfield was already an issue because of Casemiro's broken fibula. Now, they are going to be without Luka Modric too, leaving the Merengues with a huge problem -- there is no obvious way for their midfield to function.
The club announced that Modric has suffered a cartilage injury in his right knee, sidelining him for this weekend's matches. They did not put a timeline on his recovery, but he was not in Zinedine Zidane's squad for Sunday's match against Eibar.
Now Zidane has to figure out how to make his midfield and team work.
When Zidane took over as manager in the middle of last season, he immediately made Casemiro first choice. The Brazilian was the Merengues' only defensive midfielder and Zidane recognized the importance of having a player like him in the team. That has continued into this season, with Casemiro shielding the back line and providing cover against the counterattack. Real Madrid have won 18 of 20 matches under Zidane when Casemiro plays and just seven of 12 when he doesn't.
It's not as if Real Madrid can't win without Casemiro, though. They won the Champions League with him last season, but they were also crowned champions of Europe two years prior and the Brazilian was not a fixture in the team then. Real Madrid were able to mitigate the lack of bite or defensive work in their midfield by dominating the ball, dictating pace and keeping the ball in areas that provided little danger. Basically, they leaned on Modric.
The Croatian is one of the best passers in the world with an uncanny ability to control the pace of a match. He also reads the game beautifully, recognizing where to hit passes so his team can't be exposed if they give the ball away. So not only is the tempo of the match in Real Madrid's favor, but their giveaways would be in the attacking corner, or only when the Merengues had defenders back, and never immediately after gaining the ball. All of this made it extremely difficult to counterattack effectively against Real Madrid, even if they didn't have a defensive midfielder. After all, it doesn't matter if they can't stop a counterattack once it gets going if it's impossible to get a counterattack going.
But now, Real Madrid don't have their defensive midfielder in Casemiro or their metronome in Modric. They still have good midfielders, like Toni Kroos, Mateo Kovacic, Isco and James Rodriguez, but none of them do what Casemiro or Modric do.
So what how will Real Madrid cope? Out-score teams and hope the duo gets back soon might be their best bet.
MORE FROM FOX SOCCER
