There was a point where it looked like Luka Modric’s season was over, but now AC Milan hope he can help them over the line.
The big day has arrived: five simultaneous matches will take place at 12:00 CEST, after which we will know a lot more about the race for the Champions League. With two games to go, Milan are preparing to face Genoa at the Marassi, and they will have a masked man to call upon.
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As was reported yesterday by various different sources, the Croatian midfielder has returned to training with his team-mates and will start the game on the bench today.
The masked hero?
As reported in today’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), the 40-year-old has chosen to grit his teeth and try to play in this extremely delicate phase of the season.
It is one in which the main objective – a return to the Champions League – could impact his own future. Modric surprised everyone by showing up wearing his new protective mask and making it clear he wants to train with the team.
Modric had the cast for the carbon fibre protective mask made on Thursday. To make it, he relied on a Milanese company that his teammates Rafael Leao and Samuele Ricci had turned to in the past for other issues.
Yesterday morning, along with Dr. Mazzoni, he went early to the Corso Sempione area, to the headquarters of the company that made it (it’s black and very lightweight) and tried it on. An on-field test was needed, and it passed.
The former Real Madrid man was supposed to wear the protection in next week’s sessions, and instead he returned early. His team-mates couldn’t believe their eyes: they knew Luka would do everything he could to ensure they weren’t left alone, but they weren’t convinced such a recovery was possible.
In recent days, the swelling on his left cheekbone had almost completely disappeared (a prerequisite for making a 3D cast of the mask), although the scars from the surgery on are still present. At the end of yesterday morning’s session, the former Ballon d’Or winner gave positive feedback.
Predicting such a recovery from a medical standpoint wasn’t easy, which is why Allegri – consulting with the medical staff – explained last Saturday that it would be difficult to have him back for Milan-Cagliari as well.
However, Luka performed a miracle and convinced the doctors to give him the all-clear. So, with the mask in hand, he boarded the bus to Malpensa.
A true champion whose attitude cannot ever be questioned. A perfect teammate.
If only we had even a few more players w/ his attitude..
This.