The most luxurious club competition in the world, the Champions League, already knows the semifinalists. The Ruik.cz portal, which represents the Czechia in the UEFA Best Player poll by the German magazine Kicker, has traditionally been looking for the best player in the quarter-finals of the quarterfinals. Croatian midfielder Luka Modrič in the Real Madrid jersey brought a turnaround against the defending champion Chelsea FC with an ingenious pass.
It’s a dilemma many times. What is more valuable? An individual performance that will lead the team to victory, which, however, ultimately has no general value, as the goal of advancing to the next round was fulfilled by the opponent?
Such doubts sometimes bring revenge for cup competitions. Someone shines, his ensemble also records a historical contribution to the chronicle, for example, the opponent is cheering, because he is better in the sum of both matches and advanced to the next round. So he fulfilled the set goal, everything else seems fleeting at the moment.
This is exactly what the international Ladislav Vízek thought. “I was thrilled with the Chelsea game, which went to Madrid against Real with an almost hopeless loss from the home match 1: 3, and yet it fought, it played great,” does not hide the enthusiasm of the dramatic struggle that went all the way to overtime.
Real footballers cheered, but the 1980 Olympic champion was captivated by the defending champion’s performance. “Leading at Real 3-0, another goal unrecognized, a missed chance, that was something!” he sighs.
Erich Brabec, a permanent member of the jury, thinks similarly when he gave his vote to the Uruguayan legionary in the service of Benfika, Portugal, the striker Darwin Núñez. “His ending in the balancing goal was a demonstration of cleverness and technical skill,” praises the South American shooter. “And that was not another goal in which he showed similar abilities, he was not recognized,” Brabec points out. “And he scored in the first match as well,” adds.
But he also acknowledges that advancing to the semifinals was the main driving force for all involved, without it, the value of individual performance will still shrink. “If I had to put this reason in the first place, I’ll say Pau Torres, the hitchhiker of the unexpected semifinalist of Villarreal, Spain,” finds the hero. “He helped to withstand Bayern Munich’s offensive force,” highlights the former stopper of the Czech national team a colleague in the middle of the defense.
In the Real – Chelsea match, his hero Karel Brettschneider, the bookmaker of the betting office Chance, discovered it. He is a Croatian midfielder Luka Modrič. “Real didn’t retaliate well, and for a long time it looked like Chelsea would complete the turnaround,” agrees with Vizek.
“But ten minutes before the end of the regular playing time, Luka Modrič froze her with a famous pass and Rodrygo sent the match into overtime,” he stabbed a crucial moment. “But it wasn’t just what led me to choose a Croatian midfielder,” considers Brettschneider.
“At the age of thirty-six, he excels not only in creating chances for teammates, but also in excellent movement and fighting spirit. The younger opponents not only match the commitment, but usually even surpass them, ” calculates the advantages of the holder of the Golden Ball for the year 2018. “The whole match took a lot of work in a large area, it was valid in defense and it crowned the whole thing with the mentioned fantastic pass,” Brettschneider returns to the crucial moment of the match.
Milan Štěrba, chief commentator of the Nova Sport television station, which broadcasts the Champions League and devotes a large amount of space to the competition, also shares this opinion. “Real was down after a big assault and a three-goal lead from Chelsea FC, and few believed he would still rise.” he noticed. “He was started by Modrič’s ingenious pass, which led to a turnaround in development and ultimately brought about the progress of the Spanish team,” repeats.
Not even the two-goal Brazilian scorer of the English Liverpool Firmino escaped his attention. “Two goals in the quarter-finals of the Champions League is always a commendable achievement,” declares Štěrba.
In the end, Vízek also found his chosen one among the advancing “Belgian midfielder Kevin de Bruyne,” points his finger a bronze medalist from the 1980 European Championships in Italy. “A nice blonde who creates a game and can even finish it,” Vízek recalls his shot from the first match.
“When he had to go down due to injuries, Athletics gained the upper hand and only luck and almost cowardly defending kept Manchester City among the semifinalists,” pointed out the role played by the Belgian national team in the English team.
The jury’s vote
Erich Brabec: Darwin Núñez (Benfica Lisbon)
Karel Brettschneider: Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Milan Sterba: Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Ladislav Vízek: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
Source: UEFA
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