Champions League – Before Sheriff Tiraspol – Real Madrid, Camavinga, growing up in the shadow of Modric at Real

Fireworks or wet firecracker? Author of a goal and a brilliant assist in his first two matches at Real in mid-September, the 17-year-old French nugget has not been decisive since then … but continues his apprenticeship, in the shadow of the Ballon d’Or 2018, Luka Modric.

Camavinga remained on the bench during the last major meetings of the Madrilenians, whether during the clasico won 2-1 at Camp Nou against Barça at the end of October, or during the essential home match against Shakhtar Donetsk in C1, beginning November (2-1), while the Merengues were under pressure after the first leg defeat against the Sheriff.

Wednesday in Tiraspol, Real, semi-finalist of the previous edition (defeated 1-1, 2-0 by the future winner, Chelsea), could seal their qualification for the round of 16 if they win. And Camavinga is still likely to start as a replacement.

Too much commitment

This is the price to pay for a player transferred from Rennes to the Spanish capital in the last hours of the last summer transfer window in exchange for around 31 million euros, and who must refine his game in the shadow of icons of the club like Toni Kroos or Luka Modric.

“I was surprised, they are humble players. They put me directly at ease. They even started playing jokes on me. Even though I don’t speak too much Spanish, it was fun. Luka (Modric) and Karim (Benzema), they call me with another first name. It’s a secret, I’m not going to tell it, but it means that I’m already well integrated“, he told AFP at the beginning of October in Brest, with the French team of hopes.

But at the end of October, the first criticisms arrived in the Spanish press. The young Habs were criticized for often putting too much commitment in his defensive interventions. He already has four yellow cards in less than 400 minutes of play in La Liga, the last dating October 27 against Osasuna. Result: at the next warning, he will be suspended in the league.

“Solution” of the future

Fortunately, the camaraderie softens criticism and its reduced playing time. And the comments of his trainer Carlo Ancelotti too. “There is not much to say. (Kroos and Modric) play at a very high level, they are still the best midfielders in the world for me. The dynamic of these three (with Casemiro) always surprises me, they do things that I did not ask them but which come to them in a natural way.“, praised Ancelotti Sunday after the crushing victory of Real 4-1 in Granada, which allowed the Merengues to regain the lead of the championship of Spain.

“They were the past of this club, they are the present, and in ten years, we will see … We must start to think about solutions … Even if we already have some within the club, with Camavinga, ( Fede) Valverde and (Antonio) Blanco“Carletto slipped.”

Although Kroos and Modric, at 31 and 36 respectively, remain Real’s No.1 options in the middle, Camavinga, only 19, still has his card to play. And the words of his Italian coach foreshadow a bright future for the diamond trained in Rennes, in line with the trajectories of the German and the Croatian, who have become legends of the club.