The secrets of Raphael Varane becoming Real Madrid’s most used player

Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane is now firmly established as one of world football’s elite defenders but he is also now the most used outfield player in the club’s squad.

Real Madrid news recently has focused on the concern for the club in the position, particularly when Sergio Ramos is absent, with it being highlighted how Madrid have lost seven of their last nine matches in Europe without the central defender.

However, Varane has continued to impress for Los Blancos – particularly when partnered with Ramos – and Marca have now outlined the keys to how Varane has overcome injury issues to become a mainstay in the heart of the defence.

The France international has played in a total of 2,205 minutes in the first-team this campaign – with only goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois deployed more under Zinedine Zidane.

Varane had managed to play in 15 full matches in a row until he was forced to withdraw from an impact injury in the Spanish Supercopa loss to Athletic Bilbao, causing him to also sit out the Copa del Rey win over Alcoyano.

The report cites data from the CIES Football Observatory, which claims that in 2020 Varane was the seventh most used player in the major leagues of all clubs and top of Madrid’s charts.

In the 2013-14 season he missed 24 games – the result of a torn meniscus at the end of the 2012-13 campaign, while in 2015-16 there were another 11 games for which he was ruled out.

In 2016-17, he missed another 17 games due to six different injuries; and in 2017-18, four other ailments that left him out of six clashes. In 2018-19 he missed five games due to two injuries and last season, 2019-20, only one game was lost – to continue his trend of physical fulfilment.

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