Real Madrid vs Barcelona live updates: El Clasico La Liga game confirmed team news and latest predictions - The Athletic

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Luka Modric was on the ball, scanning and planning, flowing through midfield. That liquid force, like rushing water. Only 21, in the midst of a Euro 2008 qualifier between Croatia and Russia, Modric was already supplying compelling evidence that he would be here two decades later.

It was June 2007, in the smoky, atmospheric Maksimir stadium in Zagreb. For some of us, it was our first sighting of Modric in the flesh. And he stood out; because he stands out. Even those 90 minutes of Modric told us he would see new horizons. And, of course, he has and he does.

More than 17 years on from that day and 21 years from his first loan spell from Dinamo Zagreb in Mostar, Modric has become the oldest player ever to kick a ball for Real Madrid since their founding, as Madrid Football Club, in 1902. It is a serious achievement.

If he comes on against Barcelona today, Modric may well face Lamine Yamal. Yamal was born a month after that qualifier in Zagreb. The span of eras, the longevity, is a piece of the Modric attraction.

It is also the standard at which he continues to operate. He is not, at 39, kicking around a lower league for the sake of a pay packet or his ego. Modric is still playing at the highest level. This is season 13 for him at the Bernabeu.

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There’s a really special atmosphere at the Bernabéu tonight, with plenty of fans meeting outside the ground before heading in to support their team.

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Barca coach Hansi Flick's biggest selection decision was in the attacking midfield role.

He has stuck with Fermin Lopez, who assisted Barca's first two goals on Wednesday night. Which means Dani Olmo, who returned as a sub after a month out with a thigh injury midweek, is on the bench again.

Flick is also showing confidence in another young midfielder Marc Casado, who stays in the team in holding midfield, even though Frenkie De Jong is also available again after his (longer) injury absence.

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Barcelona opt for the same starting XI they used against Bayern Munich. The tactical approach will likely be similar too but Real Madrid will pose a larger threat than the Bavarians. Ancelotti's side have been caught offside just 12 times in La Liga this season, the third-fewest in the division after Las Palmas (nine) and Espanyol (11).

... and now Barcelona have named their starting XI for El Clasico today.

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Brahim Diaz is back on the Real Madrid bench after an eight-match absence due to a hamstring injury, adding to the quality alternatives Ancelotti has to bring off the bench in their biggest test of the season yet.

There were several rumours that Eder Militao could play at right-back today. The Athletic previously reported that the coaching staff had him under consideration for the position after Dani Carvajal's cruciate ligament injury.

However, as long as Lucas Vazquez is available, he will be the number one option. Last season the Galician full-back was key against FC Barcelona, scoring a goal and providing two assists. Because of performances like that, Ancelotti trusts him a lot.

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As expected, Carlo Ancelotti has opted for a midfield without Luka Modric, who will have to wait for an opportunity from the bench.

The Croatia midfielder has played a starring role in Real’s last two games, but Ancelotti has opted for more intensity today, instead handing the reins to Fede Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni, who will play as defensive midfielders.

Real Madrid have gone early with their starting XI.

Lunin; Lucas, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy; Camavinga, Tchouameni, Valverde; Bellingham; Mbappe, Vini Jr.

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Luka Modric has become the oldest player in Real Madrid’s history at 39 years and 40 days old, overtaking their legendary Hungarian forward Ferenc Puskas. Modric’s longevity at the top of the game is almost unrivalled.

The Croatia midfielder’s 27 trophies across 13 seasons with Madrid are the most of any player in club history and he will soon rack up 550 appearances (he is on 547). Striker Raul is the club’s record appearance maker, having featured in 741 games from 1994-2010.

“By all the parameters of football… Luka should have retired a couple of years ago,” his friend and former Madrid striker Predrag Mijatovic told The Athletic last year. “But then you see him play and you have to say, ‘This guy is not 38 (as he was then), he is 28’.”

Here, we look at what Modric’s peers have said about him, the players he has overtaken to become Madrid’s oldest ever, and how that record compares in the Champions League and La Liga — as well as recapping some of his best moments with the Spanish club.

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Luka Modric is Real Madrid’s oldest ever player: His best moments and place in club history

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“I never thought that I’d coach Barcelona,” Quique Setien tells The Athletic. “For me it was the opportunity of my life, fulfilling a dream.”

Setien’s appointment as Barcelona coach in January 2020 seemed, at the time, the logical result of over six decades connected to football. As he ascended the divisions from Lugo through Las Palmas and Real Betis, building a reputation as a purist whose coaching methods produced attractive football, the Catalan club was a huge influence, especially former Barca player and coach Johan Cruyff.

“At Barca, you did not have to implant the idea; it is where the idea was made,” Setien said. “Maybe that ideal had slipped a little, but I was going to Barcelona to coach the best players in the world, who had won so much before.”

Just six months later, Setien was leaving Barcelona, after the nightmare of a crushing historic 8-2 Champions League quarter-final defeat against Bayern Munich.