DBasia.news –The three times Champions League champion, Real Madrid, closed 2018 by achieving the 2018 Club World Cup champion title. Madrid won 4-1 against Al-Ain by the goals from Luka Modric, Marcos Llorente, Sergio Ramos, and the only goal from Yahia Nader.
Real Madrid achieved the fourth Club World Cup champion title after the previous title in 2014, 2016, and 2017. That was the first for Santiago Solari, Madrid’s manager who replaced Julen Lopetegui.
The Club World Cup title champion would erase the doubt of fans of Madrid under Solari. Since appointed to replace Lopetegui, Madrid aren’t consistent enough to gain the positive result.
It’s reasonable that Madrid performed that way because both Solari and Madrid players are adapting to each other. Solari is trying to understand his players, and the players try to understand Solari’s football philosophy.
However, there is one player who is enjoying the coach shifting. He is the 23-year-old midfielder, Marcos Llorente, the new star under Santiago Solari era.
The Exit Rumor
It’s not easy for Llorente to get the chance to play in the Madrid squad dominated by star players. In fact, Llorente has returned to Madrid last season under Zinedine Zidane era.
The Spanish midfielder didn’t get any chances to play under Casemiro era. Zidane chose to trust Casemiro to play as the pivot in the 4-3-3 or 4-3-1-2 scheme.
This situation continued under the era of Julen Lopetegui. Llorente seldom played and rumored exit or loaned to another club.
As a matter of fact, Llorente once played in Deportivo Alaves in 2016-2017. He played more than 30 matches for a season and returned to Madrid with a better situation.
Casemiro’s injury and Solari’s trust boost his confidence. Along with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos in the midfield, Llorente feels easier to develop his talent.
This season, including in the match against Al-Ain, Llorente has the passing accuracy reaches 94,5 percent in LaLiga and 92,9 percent in the Champions League. The tackle is average both in those competitions.
The match against Al-Ain also happened as expected in Whoscored. In the site that talks about the statistic, Llorente has the strength in terms of passing and tackle. His characteristic: long-ball.
Llorente’s goal to Al-Ain was created from the same way: long-ball from outside the penalty area. Seeing that situation, Casemiro must fight to steal back his position in Madrid’s midfield.
“I’m really happy and I have no intention of leaving,” Llorente told reporters, as cited by Marca. Furthermore, from the same media, Llorente’s performance against Al-Ain showed that he is the expert in defending midfielder.