Real Madrid are probably the most well-known and successful club on the planet, boasting a galaxy of superstars managed by former Galactico, Zinedine Zidane, himself. The Los Blancos are currently top of the La Liga, ahead of eternal rivals Barcelona and have dominated league and Champions League fixtures this season, with their dynamic attacking play and never say die spirit.
One of the main reasons for Real Madrid’s success (apart from Sergio Ramos’ repeated last minute heroics) has been their first choice midfield of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro. In what is a perfect combination of silk and steel, the Real Madrid midfield provides the BBC trio with chances as well as protect the defence from counter attacks when these attacks fail.
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In FIFA 17, the Real Madrid midfield is given its due as the three have been given ratings of 89 for Modric, 88 fo Kroos and 83 for Casemiro. What this trio lacks is speed, which is an essential component of players attributes in the FIFA series.
While the trio may be masters of football with the ball at their feet and intelligent positioning, one thing the trio is not known for is its speed. The fastest of the three is Luka Modric, who on FIFA 17 earns a speed rating of only 71, which is astronomical when compared to Kroos’ rating of 37. The Croatian also leads club mate Casemiro, who has a rating of 62 in the game.
In a surprising turn of events after analysing FIFA speed stats of the Indian national team we found that a first choice Indian midfield could possibly give the Galacticos midfield a run for their money. The midfield trio consisting of defensive midfielder Pritam Kotal, Eugeneson Lyngdoh and Mohamed Rafique turned out to be much faster than their Real Madrid counterparts, giving the Indians a slight advantage in speed, even though they are completely outclassed in other departments.
Casemiro has become an integral part of the Los Blancos midfield, essential in breaking up attacks and protecting the back four. In fact, Madrid concede a lot more goals when the combative Brazilian is missing from the pitch. Pritam Kotal, Casemiro’s counterpart in the Indian midfield has a speed rating of 77 compared to the more leaden-footed Brazilian’s rating of 63, which allows the Indian to cover much more ground than the Brazilian while screening the defence.
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Mohamed Rafique’s role in the middle of the park can be compared to that of Toni Kroos in the Real Madrid midfield. Both are adept at retaining possession and intelligently circulating the ball to dictate play.
Rafique too enjoys a huge advantage over his German counterpart with his speed being 30 rating points more than the German maestro who is unbelievably slow with a speed rating of 37. Even the three Indian goalkeepers, Gurpreet Singh, Subrata Paul and Karanjit Singh are all faster than “Der Sniper”.
The last of the Real Madrid trio, the classy Luka Modric, has one of silkiest touches in football and an eye for a pass that is rivalled by few midfielders in the game as well as reality. What he might lack in the pace department, he more than makes up for it by being a brilliant ball player.
When it comes to pace, the Croatian is the fastest man in the Real Madrid midfield with speed rated at 71 which is again comfortably surpassed by his Indian counterpart Eugeneson Lyngdoh, who is quite fleet footed with a speed rating of 80, enabling him to turn defence into attack in the blink of an eye.
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While speed does not decide which is the better of the two midfields, pace has always been a useful asset to have in the FIFA series. The Real Madrid players will comfortably surpass the Indian’s attributes and our players have a long time to go till the rival the likes of Kroos for ball skills and in-game intelligence.
For now, it is reassuring to know that Indian footballers can better, if not keep up with elite players, on speed, if not with the ball in FIFA 17.
