[346], Modri is widely regarded as one of the best and most well-rounded and effective midfielders of all time. He's not selfish, he's playing for the teamhe's a complete player; good in defence, good in offenceit looks like he was born with the ball at his feet". [148] For the second time, he also received the LFP award for the "Best Midfielder" of the Spanish first league. On 5 March, Modri came on as a second-half substitute during the decisive Champions League knockout leg against ten-man Manchester United at Old Trafford. 2018. He created and assisted for the first goal by Rafael van der Vaart in a 31 victory. Substituted in: 0, [114], In the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Modri intercepted the ball and assisted Cristiano Ronaldo for the third goal in Real Madrid's 30 home victory against Borussia Dortmund. Try a week on us. Injured: 0, Squad: 6, ", "Luka Modric beats Cristiano Ronaldo, tops World Cup Play Power Rankings", "Luka Modric vanquishes ghosts of penalties past in what could be his final World Cup", "Croatia through as hosts pay the penalty", "Who Is the Defining Player of the 2018 World Cup? Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. [348], The switch to a more deep-lying position reduced his number of assists and goals, as well as his shot per game count (1.2), although his game was no longer based on being a goal threat; despite this, he had the second-highest count of key passes per game (2.06) in the team, as well as a very high pass accuracy rate (87%), with the highest passes per game count (62.5) in the team, the most long balls per game (5.6), the most successful dribbles (2.2), interceptions (2.5), and the highest tackle (1.9) count per game among others, high statistics which placed him amongst the top midfielders of the Premier League. 4. [254] At the end of the competition, Modri was included in the UEFA Team of the Tournament, becoming only the second Croatian to achieve this honour after Davor uker. Comparisons. Therefore, in addition to producing the highest count of passes (60.764.7) and key passes per match (0.81.2) within the team, both Modri and Kroos had more defensive responsibility to set the rhythm of the team's gameplay in midfield and orchestrate counterattacks.