Photo by Slobodan Kadic
May 1, 2024 – Over halfway to 39 years old, Luka Modrić has set a Real Madrid Champions League record.
In the first semi-final match against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night, Luka Modrić became the oldest player to appear in a Champions League match for Real Madrid at 38 years and 234 days. Until now, the record was held by the legendary Ferenc Puskas, who played for Real Madrid in November 1965, also in a 2-2 draw away to Scottish club Kilmarnock, at the age of 38 years and 229 days.
Modrić broke this nearly 60-year-old record in his 528th appearance for the Madrid club and 118th in the Champions League. He also surpassed Roberto Carlos with an impressive 527 appearances in the list of players with the most games for Real Madrid, jumping to third place. In front of him is Marcelo with 546 and Karim Benzema with 648 appearances.
Modrić also recorded his 17th appearance in the Champions League semi-finals. In the history of the Champions League, only Benzema (18), Kroos (19) and Cristiano Ronaldo (21) have more appearances than Luka at this stage of the competition.
The Croatia captain entered the game in the 75th minute for Jude Bellingham and took over the captain’s armband from Toni Kroos. In the 20 minutes spent on the field, Modrić had nine touches on the ball, was 100% accurate in passing (9/9), created one great opportunity, lost possession twice and committed one foul.
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