Luka Modric: Real Madrid players need to step up after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure

Luka Modric on Real Madrid players: The Croatian star has asked the players to step up and score goals.

Real Madri have been going through a rough patch at the moment. The side faced a double blow last week as they conceded defeat to Barcelona twice.

While Solari’s men lost 3-0 in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal, a goal from Ivan Rakitic secured three points for the visitors at Santiago Bernabeu in the league.

Real Madrid’s goalscoring prowess took a massive hit after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo. The side has scored 43 league goals – only two more than Sevilla, and 23 behind league leaders Barcelona.

The Los Blancos also went through their worst goalless run in the club’s history last year under Julen Lopetegui.

After the appointment of Santiago Solari, Real Madrid’s season seemed to come on track with a win in the FIFA Club World Cup, but two losses to Barcelona inside a week have largely ended the side’s hopes for a domestic silverware this season.

Real’s only chance to lift a trophy comes from the Champions League. However, their round-of-16 game is poised for a close finish. Real Madrid defeat Ajax in the first leg 2-1, but Ajax’s performance was far more convincing than the visitors.

Luka Modric addressed the issues at Real Madrid, and made a rather worrying statement on the club’s forwards.

He stated that the forward lineup needs to step up and score goals.

Speaking at the press conference before Real’s Champions League game against Ajax, the Ballon d’Or winner admitted that the side misses Cristiano Ronaldo.

“When you lose two games against your biggest rivals, it is not something that makes you feel good.,” Modric began.

“There is no time to mull over what has happened. We have to focus on what we have to do & forget what happened. The Copa game wasn’t bad, we just lacked a goal.

“Cristiano is a player that every team would miss. Looking for a replacement is almost impossible. Of course we miss him, given everything he did for the club. What the club tried to do was divide the burden among the players, and that isn’t easy.”

Modric proceeded to ask the Real Madrid forwards to step up in the place of Ronaldo. He insisted that the inconsistent form of Real Madrid’s front-three has been the ‘biggest problem this season’.

“Cristiano scored 50 goals, and you can’t find someone else who can do that.

“Some had to take a step forward, and though not score 50, but at least score 15-20, or even ten goals. This is what we are missing. That’s why I think scoring is our biggest problem this season.”

“Cristiano is not here, so we cannot continue to complain for the next ten years that we don’t have him. The club has put faith in other players, like Gareth, Asensio, Karim and has bought Mariano and Vinicius, who is doing well for his age. But sometimes things don’t work out as we want.”

In the end, he defended Gareth Bale after the Welshman came under huge scrutiny for his performance against Barcelona in the league game.

The Real Madrid attacker has also been in the headlines after his club teammates, Marcelo and Thibaut Courtois implied that the footballer remaines isolated in the dressing room.

“Bale? Sometimes a player runs into this in his career, a time in which he doesn’t feel at his best. Everything passes though. It happened to me in the past.

“I see him being happy and he has the desire to do well. We cannot forget what Bale has done for the club, as these things can be easy to forget. He wants to work, and he wants to be the same Gareth he has always been.”