Luka Modric wanted his favourite seat on the bench. He looked down the row of Real Madrid’s subs and made the “scoot over” gesture with his hand once, then a second time. When that didn’t work, he stood directly over Dani Ceballos and jabbed at his chosen seat with an accusatory finger. You didn’t need to hear a word to recognize a veteran pulling rank.
We could probably forgive Modric a little ego at this point in his career. For a guy who’s won five Champions Leagues and a Ballon d’Or, watching a knockout game against Manchester City from the bench might feel kind of degrading. Having to squabble over his place among the subs is the kind of thing that could send a lesser man bawling to Piers Morgan.
But there was no bitterness in Modric’s exchange with Ceballos, who just laughed at his old team-mate and slid over. Modric patted him on the shoulder and settled in like a grandfather in his rocking chair, grinning with satisfaction that everyone was exactly where they belonged.
This is the miracle of modern Real Madrid: instead of Galacticos, they’ve built a squad of selfless superstars content to function as role players. Even their mock power struggles are a joke among friends. Now the team-first attitude that has made them more tactically flexible than their rivals — and more fun — might be about to send them to yet another Champions League final.
It’s not just the old guard who have bought into the idea of something bigger than themselves. Eduardo Camavinga, a 21-year-old France international who could dribble into almost any midfield in the world, often comes off the bench or even plays left-back for Real Madrid. “He doesn’t like it,” his manager Carlo Ancelotti shrugged when asked about the full-back shifts, “but we do.”
When Camavinga does start in midfield, that usually means his France partner Aurelien Tchouameni is filling in at centre-back. When Real Madrid lost Eder Militao and David Alaba this season to long-term injuries, it could have torpedoed a squad that had just two senior centre-backs left, but Tchouameni gamely dropped down from the pivot to help out at a position he had never played. In 10 games as a defender, he hasn’t lost once.
