Real Madrid superstar has a night to forget as his UEFA Nations League campaign comes to an end | OneFootball

There were several Real Madrid players in action last night as France took on Croatia in the second leg of the UEFA Nations League quarter-final tie.

Luka Modric was once again in action for the Balkan side, while Kylian Mbappe and Aurelien Tchouameni started for the Blues. Eduardo Camavinga also came on in extra time for Didier Deschamps’ side.

The Croats came into this game with a 2-goal advantage on aggregate, as Modric had helped his national team get a 2-0 win in the first leg a few days ago.

However, the Real Madrid icon put in a performance that he would be very keen to forget last night and it was one of those rare occasions on which he showed signs of his age catching up on him.

As Sofascore statistics show, the Merengue star remained on the pitch for this game for 82 minutes before being replaced by Nikola Moro.

He was not as involved with the ball as much as he is now expected to be and got only 82 touches, something that might have to do more with Croatia’s tactics than his own shortcomings.

However, his passing was also somewhat lower than the standards that he had set for himself. He only attempted 52 passes in this game, completing 45, and thus registering a passing accuracy rate of 87%. The star midfielder also put in 1 key pass and 3 of his 5 attempted long balls were accurate.

The Real Madrid captain’s age showed particularly when he got into duels with his opponents, including Aurelien Tchouameni and Kylian Mbappe. Of the 14 ground duels he was engaged in last night, he won only 5. Similarly, he only attempted 2 dribbles on the night, of which one was successful.

Modric still contributed well to the defence, making 2 clearances, 3 tackles, and blocking 1 shot. However, he was dribbled past a whopping 6 times in this game, and 1 of his errors also led to a shot on Croatia’s goal.

There is no doubt that his team’s overall approach to the game did not allow him to play to his strengths in this match. However, the fans would definitely have expected much more from a player of his stature, as they saw their team’s UEFA Nations League campaign come to an end in the quarter-final stage.

Meanwhile, Mbappe, Tchouameni, and Camavinga have advanced to the semi-finals, where they will face Spain.