Chelsea star Mateo Kovacic has admitted just how difficult it is to stop Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric.
Modric continues to operate at the highest level, despite being 36 years of age, and he proved his worth again in the Champions League clash between Chelsea and Real Madrid.
Los Blancos won 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, and amid plenty of standout actions, Modric produced a stunning cross to set up one of Karim Benzema‘s goals.
The Croatian curled the ball into the box perfectly without any backlift, in what was an unstoppable piece of play.
It was trademark Modric, and it’s something Chelsea failed to deal with all game.
On Tuesday night, they will be hoping to fare much better as they take Real Madrid in the second leg of the tie.
But midfielder Kovacic – who is a Croatia teammate of Modric’s – has detailed just how hard it is to stop his fellow countryman.
“It is quite difficult to stop [Modric],” Kovacic said during his pre-match press conference.
“He is an amazing player. I admired him when I was a child when he played for my favourite club, Dinamo Zagreb.
“He has always been as good as he is now. As long as I’ve known him he has remained on the same level, which is amazing. He loves football so much. He is a professional. If he keeps going like this, I see him playing for [another] three or four years.
“It was nice and difficult to play against him, but it is never nice when you are losing. I always prefer to have him on my team. This moment we are against each other, and we are ready to show our best tomorrow to try to go through.”
