Alonso – Modric friendship
Xabi Alonso once welcomed Luka Modric to Real Madrid while they were both on the bus to the Bernabeu for the El Clasico against Barcelona.
After 13 years, he is preparing to say goodbye to his former teammate as coach, on the journey to conquer the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup championship - Modric's 29th title with "Los Blancos", if successful.
Real Madrid and Modric have a maximum of 3 matches left before reaching the trophy, closing his legendary journey with the white team, starting with the quarter-final match against Borussia Dortmund (3am on July 6).
Modric joined Real Madrid on August 27, 2012, after lengthy and exhausting negotiations with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy – who repeatedly changed his mind at the last minute.
Before everything was settled, the Croatian player was at London airport twice to go to Madrid, but had to return home both times.
He signed just two days before the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona, where Real Madrid needed to come back from a 3-2 defeat at the Camp Nou. Jose Mourinho included him in the squad.
On the way to the pitch that day, he received one of his first lessons about Real Madrid from Xabi Alonso.
"The fans surrounded the bus, shouting, singing, dancing to see us and show that they always support the team. I sat next to Xabi, he said that it was one of the traditions of Real Madrid. I was very impressed," Modric recalled in his autobiography published in 2020.
Real Madrid won 2-1 and it was his first title in white.
Modric played two seasons alongside Xabi, winning “La Decima” (10th Champions League) together in 2014, and then continued to win many more titles after Alonso left.
Special value
After the first conversation about Real Madrid years ago, now they have their last conversations, when Xabi returns.
“It's very simple,” Alonso said recently. "Luka and I have always had a very good relationship. As teammates, as friends, and now as coach and player. We have the trust to understand what is needed in each moment."
Alonso believes that Modric is still needed in these final weeks: "I really like the way Luka interacts with the young players in the team. He is a very good example and we want to enjoy this time."
That feeling is pervasive throughout the team's Palm Beach headquarters. “Luka has always supported us,” said Victor Munoz, a young player recently promoted to the first team.
"From the first day you train with the first team, you always keep an eye on him. You try to learn something from someone with so much experience, one of the best players in the world ."
No one doubts his greatness. Xabi emphasized: "Modric is a player of the era. A legend who will forever be in the history of Real Madrid. It is important to exploit a little more value from him."
Not only the young players, Dani Carvajal also wants to enjoy these last days: "Playing with Luka and enjoying time with him is wonderful. Watching him train and compete is a miracle" .
Modric fully accepted his current role, even when he was not on the pitch. He was happy and dedicated until the last day.
The countdown to Modric's Real Madrid farewell has become one of the dominant emotions of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
“Luka, Luka…” – chants echoed in stadiums in Miami, Charlotte and Philadelphia as he stepped out in his regular kit, warmed up with the team or entered the field from the sidelines. No player in the league was more beloved.
Modric's career – he turns 40 on June 9 – is not over. He will join AC Milan after the tournament, but his departure from Real Madrid still feels like the end of an era.
Compatriot Igor Tudor, Juventus coach, said in round of 16: “In a country like ours, with less than 4 million people, only once every 300 years is a person like Modric born.”
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/real-madrid-dau-dortmund-xabi-alonso-va-vu-khi-luka-modric-2418502.html
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