- The Brazilian winger, one of the most beloved players and the one who has made the Santiago Bernabéu enjoy the most, leaves Madrid as the player with the most titles in the white club’s history
Only the passage of time will allow us to know what place Marcelo belongs to in the history of Real Madrid . The Brazilian, who arrived in 2006 as a child in the shadow of Roberto Carlos , leaves the club 16 years later, becoming one of its greatest legends.
With all the letters. Because of his exuberant, free and hilarious football, and also because of his ambition and competitive character, few players have so naturally combined the playful spirit of the game and that irreducible winning gene. Very few footballers have assimilated so well what Real Madrid means and have made the Santiago Bernabéu enjoy so much .
Its decline in recent years, aggravated by the pandemic, cannot hide the enormous influence it has had on Real Madrid ‘s second golden age . Starter in four of the last five Champions League finals , he closed his history in the white club by lifting the Orejona in Paris .
From his first title, the Capello League, to the last, the most special Champions League. A perfect ending. Along the way, another five Leagues , two Copas del Rey , three European Super Cups, six in Spain and four Club World Cups .
But Marcelo ‘s history at Real Madrid has not been a bed of roses. He landed in the white club with the weight on his shoulders of being the heir to Roberto Carlos , it took him years to become the undisputed starter because several of his coaches looked at him with suspicion for his defensive skills, he suffered in his flesh against the best Barça (and he, precisely, to the best Messi ) in history and accumulated very tough defeats, especially in the Champions League and in the Clásicos .
The numbers speak for themselves but they do not explain the impact he has had on Real Madrid and on the fans of the Santiago Bernabéu, where he has scored entire generations . Marcelo has become the footballer with the most titles (25), the twelfth with the most games (546), and with 101 assists and 38 goals, some of them transcendental and unforgettable, such as the 3-1 in Lisbon that certified the long-awaited Tenth European Cup for Madrid.
His tears of happiness as soon as he beat Courtois were those of all Madrid fans. That is why he is one of the footballers most loved by white fans. That day Marcelo was the substitute for Coentrao and his entry into the field, along with Isco , changed the face of a dying Madrid that Ramos later resurrected on the buzzer. That title was a liberation for Marcelo , established since then as the best left back of his generation and one of the most influential of all time.
In the image and likeness of Madrid , almost all of Marcelo ‘s great nights (and there were many) took place in the Champions League . Established as the best left-back in the world, his performances to reach the twelfth and thirteenth were anthological, with an influence on the offensive game of his teams that has rarely been seen.
His matches against Bayern , Atlético de Madrid or Juventus in 2017 and all of his following Champions League , with goals in the round of 16 ( PSG ), quarters ( Juventus ), semifinals ( Bayern ) and assists in the final (for Bale ‘s Chileanagainst Liverpool ), are the history of Madrid .
This season, Ramos inherited the bracelet and the spiritual leadership of the locker room from the background, assuming his role as substitute with integrity and dignity, always putting the interests of the team before his own. Never one word higher than the other.
A genius of the ball
The collection of plays, dribbles, feints, goals and assists that Marcelo leaves in these years is endless. Because Marcelo has been many things, but above all he has been a genius with the ball at his feet, endowed with almost unbelievable quality and ability. Able like almost no one to improvise unthinkable resources when the ball burns, his quality in associative play has allowed him to build great connections with Cristiano Ronaldo, Isco, Di María, Ozil, Ramos, Kroos or the first Vinicius .
Marcelo has been an unstoppable torrent of football but he has never been able to get rid of the stigma of a bad defender, even though in big games (does he remember any mistake or inattention in a Champions League final ?) he always gave the callus. When results had to be traced, everyone knew who to look for. Marcelo was always there to screw rivals in his area and make a difference. Despite his cheerful game and his talkative character, Marcelo rarely played smiling, as if it was his soccer that expressed himself for him. His sense of responsibility grew over the years but that never cloistered his free and exuberant football.
His last big game was the Clásico on March 1, 2020, played at the Santiago Bernabéu , days before the pandemic took everything ahead. In minute 73′, and with Vinicius’s 1-0 shining on the scoreboard, Frenkie De Jong put a ball into space so that Messi , alone, faced Courtois with time. Marcelo , in an outburst, launched himself at full speed for the Argentine, who already seemed unattainable. However, the Brazilian arrived just in time to touch the ball and avoid his rival’s shot. Marcelo celebrated the action as if it were a goal, raising his arms and going crazy with the stands.
Then the pandemic would arrive and the best Marcelo was never seen again, whose decline was slow and unstoppable. Today, Marcelo has put an end to his history with Real Madrid as a player who has become an emblem and one of the best and most important players in his history. Big words.