NOS Football•today, 06:16
When Dani Carvajal attends the press conference prior to a decisive match in the Champions League, no one is surprised. The experienced Real Madrid defender has been there so often, he has been playing for the top prizes all his football life. Although it is rarely in the leading role.
Tonight (9 p.m.) the child of the Madrid club can reach the final of the Champions League for the sixth time with a win over Bayern Munich. He hasn’t lost one yet…
The 32-year-old right back has a calm appearance. No fuss, a professional whose name rarely appears in headlines.
For a long time he played in the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos. Now Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior and Toni Kroos are in the spotlight at Real Madrid, which has won the Champions League no fewer than five times in the past ten years with all those stars. The record holder from the Spanish capital stands at fifteen in total.
Modric and Carvajal
Luka Modric played his part in each of those five European campaigns, the Croatian became a jewel in football. Besides Modric, there was one other player in each of those five Champions League finals won by Real Madrid.
Unlike Modric, he was not an eye-catcher. Yet Carvajal, like Modric, has all five on his list of honors. He has already won 23 prizes at his club, including five World Cups and, as of this weekend, four Spanish titles.
“There is a lot of euphoria because we are having a fantastic season,” Carvajal notes when it is his turn to answer questions after coach Carlo Ancelotti. Winning the 36th national title on Saturday evening was a big celebration for the fans. Carvajal and his teammates were in bed right on time.
“We are really looking forward to the Champions League,” he explains. “You feel that in the dressing room. Fans congratulate us on the street and they encourage us in our dream of winning the Champions League again.”
To live up to legend
To do this, Real Madrid must deal with Bayern Munich at home (first leg: 2-2) and then win the final at Wembley against Borussia Dortmund. It would be Carvajal’s sixth, bringing him and Modric level with record holder Paco Gento, a legend from Real Madrid’s rich past.
Ancelotti is confident in reaching the CL final: ‘We are Real Madrid’
Carvajal grew up in Legánes, a suburb of Madrid. When he was included in the youth academy of the great Real at the age of ten, he could only dream of such successes. His breakthrough was slow and followed more than eleven years later. First he was sold to Bayer Leverkusen, only to be bought back after a year.
That detour is now called the ‘Via Carvajal’ in Madrid, where youth products rarely gain a starting place at a young age. Several defenders have noticed this in recent years, partly because Carvajal continued to develop well into his thirties.
The 46-time Spanish international has never been a ‘modern’ wing defender who sprints back and forth across the flank and gets involved a lot in the attack. More the type of defender who mainly exists in the minds of his direct opponents. Yet he is more productive than ever this season with five goals and five assists in all competitions.
It will mainly be his experience that Carvajal can help his team against Bayern Munich tonight. After being suspended in the first leg, he will most likely return to the starting line-up at the Santiago Bernabeu, as always brimming with confidence in his club: “We are two games away from the trophy.”
