Actual will host bitter rivals Barca on Sunday with the chance to strengthen their maintain on the title race. With 66 factors from 28 video games, Carlo Ancelotti's facet have a 10-point benefit over second-placed Sevilla and are 15 forward of Barca in third.

With 11 matches to play, they're on a excessive and have a LaLiga-European Cup double of their sights. Actual Madrid striker Karim Benzema will miss Sunday's Clasico in opposition to Barcelona on the Santiago Bernabeu after struggling a calf harm, coach Carlo Ancelotti confirmed.

Benzema, LaLiga's prime scorer, was absent from Actual's Saturday coaching session in Madrid and can focus over the following two weeks on getting match for subsequent month's Champions League quarter-final matches in opposition to Chelsea.

In Benzema's absence, onus will likely be on senior gamers like Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, amongst others to step up.As Actual Madrid prepares for the sport, let's check out 5 issues it's possible you'll not learn about Modric:

He was a refugee as a baby

Modrić had a troublesome childhood. Rising up in the course of the Yugoslav Wars within the early Nineties, he tragically misplaced his grandfather to the battle and have become a refugee together with his household who had been pressured to flee their hometown. He grew up residing in accommodations – principally on the Lodge Kolovare, in Zadar – and first discovered to play soccer within the lodge parking tons.   

Barcelona got here calling in 2008

At this time it could be onerous to think about Modrić enjoying for FC Barcelona, however again in 2008 he was closely linked with the Catalan giants. He even gave an interview to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo through which he spoke of how he’d like to play for Barça, even posing with the membership’s jersey. Nonetheless, Modrić went on to go away Dinamo Zagreb for Tottenham that summer time of 2008, ultimately becoming a member of Actual Madrid in 2012. Two LaLiga Santander titles and 4 Champions Leagues later, he’s nonetheless bossing the midfield on the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. 

His first Actual Madrid look ended with a trophy

Few debuts are as profitable as Modrić’s Actual Madrid debut. After arriving from Tottenham late within the 2012 summer time switch window, the midfielder got here on for his debut within the Spanish Tremendous Cup second leg in opposition to Barcelona on the Bernabéu. With the combination rating tied at 4-4 when he got here on for Mesut Özil within the second half, he managed the midfield for the rest of the sport to see out tie and hand Actual Madrid the season-opening trophy. Not a foul first sport! 

He was bizarrely voted the worst signing of 2012

Regardless of successful a trophy in his first match with Actual Madrid, Modrić endured a difficult begin to life on the capital metropolis membership. Midway by the 2012/13 season, he was even voted because the worst LaLiga Santander signing of the 2012 summer time switch window, harshly on condition that he had missed virtually all of pre-season. Since then, nonetheless, he has cemented his status as one in every of world soccer’s biggest gamers and has proved his doubters flawed many instances over, successful trophy after trophy and the 2018 Ballon d’Or. 

He performed extra minutes than some other participant on the 2018 World Cup

The 2018 World Cup was one of many defining and most memorable tournaments of his profession. Three summers in the past, he led Croatia to an unprecedented ultimate look in opposition to France and gained the Golden Ball as the most effective participant of the event. With all three of Croatia’s knockout matches going to extra-time (vs Denmark, Russia, and England) and Modrić at all times on the pitch, he racked up 694 minutes on the pitch in the course of the event, greater than some other participant.