Luka Modric’s emotionally charged celebration were captured in wholesome now-viral footage after Real Madrid dumped Paris Saint-Germain out of the Champions League on Wednesday.
Madrid faced an uphill task to book their place in the Champions League quarter-finals, with PSG securing a 1-0 win in their first-leg last-16 clash last month.
Los Blancos suffered an early setback in the second-leg tie after Madrid-linked Kylian Mbappe fired PSG into the lead with a superb finish at the Santiago Bernabeu.
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But a Karim Benzema-inspired hat-trick in the second half secured a sensational comeback win for Madrid, with PSG crashing out of the Champions League.
Footage of Modric and Co celebrating Madrid’s memorable win, posted by El Chiringuito on Twitter, quickly made the rounds on social media.
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The camera follows the Croatian midfield metronome through the tunnel to the Madrid dressing room, with a jubilant Modric celebrating with his teammates and staff.
One Twitter user posted: “Be inspired [by] the passion and emotion of [Luka] Modric. Embraces and thanks everyone in the locker room after a historic victory. The pure joy of sport!”
Someone else commented: “Tears to my eyes yes, love you Luka.”
A third fan said: “The day this man retires, I’m going to cry like a f*****g cupcake. And I will have no-one to comfort me.”
While a fourth added: “I’m not from Madrid, but this is love for the shirt. They could already learn one that other teams that make their silver-based equipment.”
And another wrote: “Words can’t describe how much I love this guy, man…”
Speaking after Madrid’s 3-1 win, Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand praised Benzema for his game-changing performance against PSG.
“He’s had some great nights in his career but this will go down personally for him, a hat-trick,” he said on BT Sport.
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“I said it before the game, we’ve all said how good a player he is, the most complete No 9 about for me.
“He does every part of the game fantastically well.
“Today putting the ball in the back of the net, which is the hardest thing to do in the game, three times. Bang, have that.”
Ferdinand added: “We were all salivating over Kylian Mbappe -- the most devastating player at the moment -- but in the second half Karim Benzema comes out and says ‘No, no, no, I’m not done yet!’ He bangs in a hat-trick.”
Topics: Luka Modric, Real Madrid, La Liga, Spain, Football, Paris Saint-Germain, France, Ligue 1, Champions League
Adnan Riaz