Casemiro is one of the most important players in Real Madrid’s squad. The Brazilian midfielder is the only defensive midfielder Zidane has in all the squad, and with his injury Real Madrid was a bit broken in the field. In the last match Real Madrid played in the semifinal against América we could saw an starting 11 that is very usual for Zidane, especially in the midfield. We suppose that the midfield with Casemiro, Modric and Kroos is the one that Zidane feels more secure. It’s true that the French manager will do a lot of rotations until the end of the season, but in the important matches it seems he will choose these three players in the midfield.
In the the first FIFA World Cup match against América Zidane played with Casemiro, Kroos and Modric in the midfield, let’s see if he repeats at the final. Casemiro continues being a Zidane’s very important player. Since the Brazilian midfielder reappeared after the injury, a torn fibula that kept him away from the pitch around two months, Zidane has been giving him minutes in every match. He reappeared in the second leg against Cultural Leonesa playing from the beginning, he also played the second half in El Clásico, and he was included in the starting 11 against Borussia Dortmund and Deportivo Coruña.
During the period Casemiro’s injury, Kovacic was having more minutes as usual. The Croatian midfielder was having many good performances but with Casemiro’s return he has lost prominence. Mateo Kovacic has not appeared since El Clásico. He did not play any minute against Borussia Dortmund, neither Deportivo nor in the semifinals against América.
It seems Kovacic will return to the bench with Casemiro’s reappearance but we saw that Zidane is giving many opportunities to those players that are not in the line up. Kovacic is a great players and he has showed that he has a great quality and conditions to play at Real Madrid. Would you maintain Kovacic or Casemiro should return to the starting 11?
I think kovacic offers more to the midfield and contributes more to the midfield offensively and similarly defensively. He connects with Morris and Kroos better as well.