Real Madrid proved last season, despite what jealous English football pundits would have you believe, that they are without a doubt the best team in world football.
When you dispatch PSG, Chelsea, Manchester City and then Liverpool in the final to win the Champions League, there is simply no argument about who is No.1.
But despite the great achievement of winning their 14th European Cup along with the La Liga title last season, Spanish football expert Guillem Balague admits that the Galacticos are now even STRONGER!
Speaking on The Celtic Way podcast, Guillem talked about the loss of Brazilian midfielder Casimero to Manchester United, and explained that the loss it not actually such a bad thing for the club.
“Casimero for two years had dropped a level considerably. Considerably.” Stated Balague.
“When The transfer offer came in, Real Madrid didn’t think about it twice because he had peaked already.”
“Tchouameni (his replacement) is a very, very good player.”
“He is a defensive beast!”
“The way he recovers possession, and I think he did it 13 times today, 13 times! You know, that’s not usual, that’s a very, very big figure, even for a defensive midfielder.”
“But also. how he turns into an offensive player, how he recovers with his powerful runs, with the ability to not complicate himself, it is not an upgrade, but I will say more or less, Casimero right at the same age, I think Casimero was a year older when he got to the first team, the level of Casimero at that time when Rafa Benitez game him the opportunity, is not as high as Tchouameni is now.”
“So, there is a lot of room for improvement, no doubt, but he covers a lot of ground, and I don’t think Casimero will be missed.”
“Tchouameni is a good addition, a really good addition to a side that I think in my eyes, is much better than last year.”
“Even though they only added a couple of players, Rudiger will be part of the team more regularly as the weeks go on.”
Guillem later went on to add that Real Madrid star striker Karim Benzema is “the best player in the world” and the Vinicius Jr is “the best young player in the world alongside Pedri and Haaland.”
It just goes to show what Celtic are up against tonight, and any sort sort of result for us tonight would be huge.
This is where we want to be though, on the biggest stage competing against the best teams and the best players in the world.
I can’t wait!
