Luka Modric exposes the key to Real Madrid’s spectacular Champions League win last season

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By Martin Graham | 22nd Feb 2023

Real Madrid pulled off unbelievable comeback wins against PSG and Manchester City on its way to win the champions league last season.

Modric opens up about how the players managed to achieve such an amazing run.

Last season, both Real Madrid and world football fans were treated to some exciting nail-biting games as Real Madrid made its way to win a 14th Champions League title.

Madrid’s midfield star, Luka Modric, has revealed how the team were able to pull off those shocking wins on its way to the final, especially when it looked like they were staring defeat in the face.

Modric reveals how the Madrid mentality monsters won last season

Luka Modric has been a key figure in Madrid’s midfield during all its successful Champions League campaigns. His exploits in midfield sparked some of the amazing comeback wins that got Madrid the title last season.

Modric successfully linked up play with his teammates, Kroos, Casemiro, Benzema, Vini Jr, Rodrygo, to turn around games in the space of few minutes.

PSG, Manchester City, and Chelsea all suffered shock late defeats to Madrid after being in the pole position to win their Champions League knockout ties.

Ahead of Tuesday night’s game at Anfield against Liverpool, a replay fixture of last season’s final, Modric spoke to Rio Ferdinand and revealed that the talks about the Madrid team being finished was a major motivation for the squad to do all it could to win.

Modric said: “Everyone was favourite against us. I think this year what happened it was difficult to describe.

“Everyone wrote us off. That’s why this celebration (against PSG after the third goal), it comes naturally because everyone wrote us off. “They are dead. Modric should retire, Kroos cannot play.” Then you are emotional.”

Modric and his Madrid teammates have won an unmatched number of Champions League titles in the modern era, which includes the famous run of three consecutive titles under coach Zinedine Zidane, and the inclusion of Ronaldo, Ramos, and Bale in the team.

Despite this impressive record with a team regarded as one the most successful football teams to take the field, Modric said he had a belief that he still has something to prove, and this was a source of motivation for him.

“Of course, you want to prove [something]. We had something to prove here. Me, the team, everyone. Because everyone was saying we are dead, we are finished. It gives you something inside that you want to prove that it is not the case.

“The way we won this one it is really difficult to explain what we did, because in all the games we were finished.

“Everyone backed PSG, Chelsea, City and Liverpool [in the final]. That’s why it was special – the way we did it. Every time losing, against PSG, Chelsea and City – the game against Paris we turned it around in three minutes. Against City we scored two in three minutes, we could have scored a third without extra time.

“It was really something special about that year.”

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Modric spoke about his own role providing important assists in the games against PSG and Chelsea, and he revealed that Carlo Ancelotti had always asked him to make penetrating runs from deep when he first came to the club and won in 2014.

“I remember Carlo Ancelotti, when he first came to Madrid, he always asked me when I got the ball in deeper positions to run with the ball. That’s what I did here, intercept the pass to Neymar and run with the ball. Pass to Karim was good, and if he doesn’t score then nobody talks.”

Modric gave credit to the home crowd for its support when asked about other factors that helped the team pull off those near impossible wins.

“I know at Bernabeu we have to show our offensive quality and I knew they would suffer (PSG) if we had to come out and perform.”

He said when he was taken off at the Parc des Princes, he told his team-mate Dani Carvajal “we will kill them at the Bernabeu”.

“Also, the fans played an important role because our fans are very demanding. Sometimes when things don’t go our way they can be… But this season was something unbelievable, it was different – it was amazing.”

Last season’s win was one for the books, a footballing masterclass filled with suspense, but Modric claims that his favourite of the five Champions League wins was his first, the club’s 10th, or ‘La Decima’ in 2014.

He said: “It was different. For me the best one was La Decima. Special number, I like the number. The Real Madrid waited 12 or something years to win it.”

Modric was also asked how he managed his energetic performance in the midfield at the age of 37, when his legs shouldn’t be able to keep up with younger midfielders.

“It’s interesting, the more the game passes on, I feel better and with more energy. Yeah, that’s why (get stronger as the game goes on).”

Modric will be looking to bring this energy to Anfield against a Liverpool side that has been struggling but recently secured a domestic league win in the buildup to their Champions League clash.