10 members of the Real Madrid squad were on senior international duty this past week, with some fairing better than others in the games with their national teams.
While the likes of superstars Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe struggled, veteran Luka Modric and super sub Brahim Diaz starred.
Here’s how Real Madrid‘s international players fared during the September international break.
Despite earning himself a Yashin Trophy nomination during the international break, Andriy Lunin didn’t play a single minute of football for his national team Ukraine.
He’s also yet to feature for Real Madrid this season.
Dani Carvajal captained his national team in the first game of the international break, helping his side to a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw with Serbia by winning 100% of his tackles.
He handed the armband back to Rodri for the second game against Switzerland, in which his side ran out 4-1 winners.
Madrid were delighted to see Federico Valverde return from international duty early last week, with the midfielder receiving a booking in the draw with Paraguay that meant he was suspended for the clash with Venezuela on Tuesday.
Yes, Luka Modric is still turning out for Croatia, and yes he’s still their best player.
Although he couldn’t do too much about the defeat to Portugal, Modric was mesmerically brilliant in the win over Poland. The Croatia captain curled a wonderful free-kick into the top corner of the net to earn his side a UEFA Nations League win.
Although he wasn’t the star of the show for Turkiye as he so often is – that was hat trick hero Kerem Akturkoglu – Arda Guler impressed once again during the international break.
He couldn’t find a route through a stoic Wales defence in the first Nations League game, but was more effective in the second, bagging an assist in a 3-1 win over Iceland.
Vinicius Junior’s surprising struggles with Brazil continued this past week.
The superstar forward looked rather laboured in both the win over Ecuador and the defeat to Paraguay.
Speaking about his international form, Vini admitted: “We want to reverse this situation in Brazil at all costs. Let everyone go home now and think to immediately reflect on what we have to improve, what we have to do to play well again.
“We can’t come here, lose those points and play the way we played. In Europe, the ball runs faster on the pitch, we have to adapt to play in the best way to win games. By winning, we will have more peace of mind to play differently.”
Much like fellow superstar Vinicius, Kylian Mbappe failed to make much of an impact on the international stage in September.
He was extremely quiet in the 3-1 defeat to Italy, before making a cameo appearance in the win over Belgium.
Unlike his forward partners, Rodrygo did manage to score during the international break.
The wide forward saw his very deflected effort from outside of the box nestle into the bottom corner in the win over Ecuador.
Yes, another Brazilian.
It wasn’t the greatest of international breaks for young Endrick. The forward didn’t play a single minute of the win over Ecuador and failed to do anything of note after being given a start against Paraguay.
It’s fair to say that it was a very, very successful international break for Brahim Diaz and Morocco.
The talented attacker bagged a goal in the comfortable 4-1 win over Gabon, before coming off the bench to net a 93rd minute winner against minnows Lesotho on Monday evening. Nice one.
