Luka Jovic has been able to do more things and do them much better since he arrived at Real Madrid, no doubt. His first year at the white club was marked by controversy: he fought with his coach, Tumbakovic; he skipped the quarantine to go to Belgrade; invited a friend from his country to Madrid and it turned out that he was infected by COVID-19 … To which he added a very poor sports performance for the 60 million that Real Madrid paid for him: two goals in just over 800 minutes.
But it is no less true that the Balkan is out of luck, as has just become evident. Jovic came from the national team break with renewed energy and after signing a very brilliant role. His relationship with his coach in Serbia deteriorated a lot, but the waters have returned to their course and that has been seen in this break, in which 230 minutes in three games, scoring three goals and giving two assists. Tumbakovic has ultimately yielded to the evidence: he is the best forward at his disposal, as shown by his five goals in 567 minutes with Serbia.
Upon his return to Madrid, Jovic returned convinced that this good moment of form could be prolonged, even enlarged, with the Real Madrid shirt. Benzema ended up playing Valencia-Real Madrid before the break, had to be substituted and left Mestalla with muscle discomfort in the adductor of his left leg. During the break he has combined work in the gym and on the grass, but his absence against Villarreal this Saturday was already chewing and in the end it became official. Zidane did not include him in the call to travel to Castellón, aware that then they have to go to Milan to face Inter. And his place in Vila-real was going to be for Jovic.
Jovic, prone to injuries
But the PCR tests after his return to the capital of Spain confirmed that Jovic has been infected with the coronavirus during his stay with the Serbian national team, something not entirely surprising given that the Balkan team reported four positives last Wednesday (three players and one physio) on their expedition. Jovic was negative in the subsequent test, but it is clear that he was incubating the virus, which has now become visible to diagnostic tests.
In his best moment of form since he signed with Madrid and with the doors of the eleven open, Jovic will have to quarantine the next few days, until he eliminates the virus. And it is that, despite his almost 23 years, the Balkan He is showing himself as a crystal player, prone to injuries: this is the sixth medical loss he has suffered since he signed for Real Madrid, a year and a half ago.
Mariano was finally Real Madrid's forward in Vila-real and took the opportunity to eat the Serbian's toast: a goal after two minutes of play. The forward did not do much more, who fought all he could, but he found a very unattractive Madrid when attacking. However, the numbers are already with him: Mariano has scored a goal in the 98 minutes he has had this season, while Jovic is still at zero after 208 '. It remains to be seen if Benzema recovers for Milan; if not, Mariano will have a much bigger stage from which to yell at Zidane that he is wrong about him.