The ‘pillars’ of the team are changing, but Real Madrid continue to win. Of the team that won the Champions League 10 years ago in Lisbon in a dramatic final against Atlético Madrid, today only Luka Modrić and Dani Carvajal are there. And Carlo Ancelotti, who in the meantime coached Bayern, Napoli and Everton and returned to Santiago Bernabeu, with whom they once again climbed to the top of Europe, and now he wants to do it one more time.In those 10 years, Los Blancos lost Iker Casillas, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Raphaël Varane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and many other players. In the meantime, Toni Kroos and Casemiro joined the dynasty and were important cogs in four more Champions League victories. The German is still there, the Brazilian is not.##NAJAVA_MECA_8046113##In eight years in Madrid, Casemiro was European champion five times, club world champion three times, Spanish champion three times… He won everything that could be won several times. And he didn’t wait for Real Madrid to show him the exit door like legends like they did to Casillas, Ramos, Marcelo… He himself felt that it was the end. Although he could have stayed.”I won everything. It’s not that I didn’t want to move on, but I needed new challenges. They didn’t let me go so easily, but I wanted to learn a new language and feel the experiences of living in another country. I decided to leave when we won the Champions League. I felt that my time in Madrid was over, I was in my prime to leave and I wanted something new. The decision was not at all easy because the people in Madrid loved me,” says Casemiro in an interview with the Spanish El Chiringito.Only once did he doubt his decision.”It was Friday and we had already arranged everything. I was supposed to go to training and all that was missing was my signature. I went to Ancelotti’s office and he already knew I was leaving. When I came in, he turned around and started crying. He told me that he didn’t want me to leave and that he loved me very much. That was the only time I doubted the decision to leave Real. But I have already given my word to United, and that is much more important than anything else.”🤍 ANCELOTTI y CASEMIRO, PURO MADRIDISMO.😭 “Cuando se lo dije estaba llorando…”ENTREVISTA EXCLUSIVA de @EduAguirre7. pic.twitter.com/sVzxdwF8rV— El Chiringuito TV (@elchiringuitotv) April 19, 2024 Casemiro was one of the Real Madrid fans against Manchester City the other night.”I suffered like all Real fans. We qualified for the semifinals, but it was difficult. City have amazing players and a manager who knows what he wants to play. Real defended, defended, and defended. I am very happy for my colleagues there.”Casemiro touched on Los Blancos’ winning mentality in the Champions League.”It’s hard to explain. It is a club that is transforming itself in the Champions League. You have those turning points at Real Madrid like when Haaland hit the crossbar… This club in the Champions League is something incredible. Winning is in its DNA. They say that Real Madrid only wins the Champions League. And why don’t others conquer it when it’s so easy? The demands at Real do not exhaust you, but push you to be the best you can be. That’s how it feels to play in Real Madrid. Pressure every day”.He was also asked about his so-far-impressions of life with Manchester United.”United have treated me brilliantly from day one. Everything is going well, life is beautiful. The Premier League is an amazing competition and it’s great to play in it. And the family adapted well. Everything is perfect”.And then he raised the eyebrow… Carletto’s got what it takes to make Pep sufferCasemiro also touched on a topic that has been tickling every Real fan for a long time. The expected arrival of Kylian Mbappe.”He is one of the best, if not the best in the world at the moment. He has the attitude of a champion. A beast on the field. He reminds me a lot of Cristiano Ronaldo. When he is on the pitch, he is always a goal threat. Cristiano was like that because he had a flair for scoring. You’re always worried that they’re going to score. Cris has had those games where he’s not good but you can see he’s going to score. They are great players and Mbappe is like that. He didn’t have the best performance against Barca recently, but he scored two goals. You could feel on the field that he was going to score a goal.”Casemiro witnessed first hand the era of fierce rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi, which is increasingly missing from Spanish football…”We all enjoyed it and didn’t realize what Messi and Cristiano did. I don’t think we appreciate enough what Cristiano has done and what he is doing in football. And last year he scored 50 goals. What do you say to such a player?”##NAJAVA_MECA_8045381##
