Zidane's engine

March 20, 2016 is not another date for Real Madrid. That is the first day that Zidane started the center of the field formed by Casemiro, Kroos and Modric as a white coach. The result was unbeatable: 4-0 at Sevilla at the Bernabéu. An almost perfect match, surely the best team performance of the team at that time since the coach arrived on the bench.

TO Zizou it was difficult for him to find his trusted midfield. At that time the BBC (Bale, Benzema and Cristiano) was non-negotiable, while the coach was dazzled from the outset by Isco's football. That caused Casemiro to be a substitute in the first eight games that the Frenchman led. He entered after a lost derby against Atlético and became undisputed. And it was that day, against Sevilla, when Zidane found his undisputed engine room.

Thus came the three consecutive Champions and four and a half years after that title, Zidane's engine is what has allowed Real Madrid to come out of the crisis it entered after being defeated in Kiev and stay on the brink of elimination in the Champions League.

All three are already veterans: Modric is 35 years old, Kroos 30 and Casemiro 28. However, these encounters have served to claim that they have left rope for a while. Especially striking is the case of the Croatian, who despite his age is at the level of his best days, when he was Ballon d'Or in 2018.

The emergence of Valverde caused that the non-negotiable condition of that center of the field that the fans repeated by heart was broken. However, far from being the end of a stage, That presence of the Uruguayan has served to make a new leap in quality. The competition has been positive.

With Valverde injured, Zidane once again trusted his engine of confidence and Casemiro, Kroos and Modric have not failed him. The return of Valverde, who has entered the final stretch of his recovery, will allow Zizou to dose them, especially Kroos and Modric. But the three have shown that they still maintain reliability when the games in which Madrid play the seasons arrive. If all three work, the team shines.