Real Madrid Manager Admits 'Unfair' Treatment Of Luka Modric

Real Madrid are back on track in their pursuit of the La Liga title by keeping themselves within two points of leaders Girona. They picked up three points from a convincing 5-1 win over Valencia on Saturday despite the absence of Jude Bellingham. However, manager Carlo Ancelotti has now admitted that he did not make the best decision when he chose his starting lineup for the match.

In particular, the Italian claimed that he should have picked Croatian midfielder Luka Modric to start. While speaking at the post-match press conference, Ancelotti said: "Luka Modric should have started today, I've been unfair. This is what happens when you have such a quality squad."

Modric started the match from the bench once more, which has surprisingly become a common occurrence in the ongoing campaign. He only came in at the hour mark to replace Federico Valverde. At that point, Los Blancos were already 4-0 up. Nevertheless, the Italian still felt that he should have started with the 2018 Ballon d'Or winner.

How did the match play out?

Real Madrid had a positive start to the season, with summer signing Jude Bellingham stealing the show. They did well despite long-term injuries to Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao. However, replacement keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was recently ruled out for three weeks after suffering a muscle injury. Bellingham has also been sidelined after dislocating his shoulder last week.

Nevertheless, Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior has found his groove after having spent some time out of action earlier in the season. His Brazilian partner in crime, Rodrygo Goes, is also back in form after having been subdued in the first few months of the campaign.

Los Blancos were ruthless against Valencia, and captain Dani Carvajal sent the crowd at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium up on their feet when he volleyed the ball in after just three minutes. Valencia fought hard to find the equaliser in the first half, but the match started to get away from them when Vinicius scored on either side of the break, putting the hosts 3-0 up.

Then, Rodrygo made Valencia pay for a mistake and scored a goal of his own, making it 4-0 in favour of Real Madrid. It was at this point that substitutions were made, and Modric finally came in at the hour mark. Later in the match, Lucas Vazquez came in for Brahim Diaz, who was happy to be able to log in more minutes after spending most of the season on the bench as well.

Ferland Mendy then gave way for Fran Garcia before goal scorers Vinicius and Dani Carvajal were taken out in favour of Joselu and youngster Nico Paz. Rodrygo scored another goal in the 84th minute before Valencia's Hugo Duro pulled back a consolation goal.

Modric is said to be frustrated

While Modric himself is not the kind of player to complain publicly, there have been a lot of speculations about his growing frustration after having started only four of thirteen league matches thus far. He was subbed in for seven games, and stayed on the bench twice.

This is a far cry from the number of times that Modric started in the past several seasons, and Ancelotti has admitted that he has made an error in judgement at least for the Valencia match. However, the season is very long, and it may come in useful for Real Madrid to have players of such quality staying fresh and ready for action in the latter half of the season.

Previously, the likes of Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Modric himself were left exhausted and overworked by February, especially when the Champions League knockout stages come around.

Despite this, no footballer wants to spend time on the bench. There have been reports that Saudi Pro League clubs are getting ready to try to tempt the Croatian star away from the Santiago Bernabeu before he extends for another year. Likewise, MLS side Inter Miami is reportedly interested thanks to the suggestion of Lionel Messi, who is rumoured to be keen on playing alongside Modric.