Real Madrid thrashed Valencia 5-1 yesterday, in a match that manager Carlo Ancelotti called “the best game of the season” so far. They’re now on international break until Nov. 26, when they’ll visit Cadiz for a La Liga fixture. But we have plenty of news and notes to cover today, pertaining to Arda Guler, Luka Modric and (now former) team doctor Niko Mihic.
Let’s start with Mihic, who was up until now Real Madrid’s Chief Medical Officer.
The club sacked Dr. Mihic, who had been with the club since 2017, due to the handling of Güler’s fitness concerns. The Turkish wonderkid has still not debuted for the club, due to a few injury set backs.
This latest set back will keep him the teenage midfielder out until at least December. The Daily Mail has more.
And while the Guler situation was the primary reason behind this change, it wasn’t the only factor.
According to Marca, the Bernabeu have become increasingly concerned with their injury problems in recent years, and Mihic is a big reason why.
So now the search begins for his replacement.
Elsewhere Luka Modric and Toni Kroos are two world-class but aging midfielders who are finding their minutes diminishing at Madrid, due to all the younger, emerging talent that the club possesses in the middle of the park.
Federico Valverde got the starting nod yesterday, with Modric coming on in the 60th minute. Ancelotti made it clear, the Croatian sensation deserved a starting assignment, but it’s a numbers game in a squad with this much depth and talent.
“He should have started today, I’ve been unfair,” Ancelotti said. “This is what happens when you have such a quality squad.”
Good on Ancelotti there to say “I’ve been,” as these days fewer and fewer people take accountability.
Modric won the Ballon d’Or in 2018, ending the long held Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo duopoly at the time. And now, the 38-year-old is just sometimes a squad player.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.