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Luka Modric is back in shape and the Real Madrid midfielder will have a key role to play when his side will face Barcelona in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey.
The last four encounters between the two biggest Spanish clubs, which is mouth watering, with the recent resurgence of Modric and Madrid threatening the recent domination of the Barca Barca.
The Barca is aiming for a fifth consecutive crown in Copa del Rey. Madrid being far behind in the Liga, he is eight points behind the leader of the championship. This could be his best chance to add to the money earned at last year's World Club Cup.
Santiago Solari has finally found a winning formula at Santiago Bernabeu. Madrid has won five consecutive victories in all competitions, before Wednesday's trip to Camp Nou.
Modric is at the heart of his success. He is again in shape after a slow start to the season that has been disturbed by rumors that he could leave for the Serie A giant, Inter, and by an understandable fatigue of his efforts to lead Croatia at the World Cup. final.
What. One year. ! #TheBestThingsNeverComeEasy pic.twitter.com/alOjubsgxy
– Luka Modrić (@ lukamodric10) December 31, 2018
Modric was rightly named tournament player at the end of Russia 2018, but when he recovered a young Golden Ball at the glitzy December ceremony, the situation was slightly shocking.
Aged 33, Julen Lopetegui was struggling for his mediocre performances, contributing to the bad results that led to the dismissal of the former Spanish coach.
ARRIVAL OF SOLARI
Modric did not seem to significantly improve when Solari came in to replace Lopetegui, although Madrid won all four matches of his term.
A 3-0 defeat at Eibar after a permanent contract brought Madrid down with a bump and their defeat at home against CSKA Moscow by the same score in the Champions League showed that Solari n & # He had no magic wand.
But since the beginning of the year, Modric seems to have regained his form, with consecutive goals in the league against his high-flying neighbors, Sevilla and Real Betis, which have helped to obtain essential points for Madrid in January.
Maybe Modric is following his own advice. After scoring the first goal of Madrid's victory over Al Ain in the Club World Cup final, he swore: "I should shoot more, that's right."
BACK TO GOALS
With three goals in eight games with Madrid, Modric is certainly reborn.
And Los Blancos needed his goals: Marco Asensio and Gareth Bale were sidelined due to injury, coupled with Cristiano Ronaldo's sale to Juventus, leaving the club tarnished by their top scorer.
Modric was surprisingly prolific. Early in his career, he scored 27 goals in three seasons for Dinamo Zagreb. His performances as number 10 earned him to be transferred to Tottenham.
Luuuuka, Luuuuka, Modric!
@ lukamodric10 pic.twitter.com/s8ZPN4xnve– Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) January 19, 2019
It is there that Harry Redknapp – to whom the acceptance speech of the Golden Ball was awarded by Modric – chose to place the Croatian in a deeper role in the middle of the field in order to be able to dictate the tempo of the Spurs room.
Since leaving Zagreb, Modric has only scored more than three league goals in the season, but as he approaches the end of his career, he seems to have shot more often.
Barcelona would not have expected Modric to be a major threat, but Ernesto Valverde must have a plan of action to fight Madrid's midfield rockets on Wednesday.
Modric has never scored in the Copa del Rey before and there might never be a better time to break his duck in the competition.
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