Why Luka Modric Is the Real Madrid Player Atletico Must Shut Down

It was said casually, almost as a throwaway line, but Alvaro Arbeloa knew what he was doing. "We know it's Atleti's game of the year on Sunday," he said this week ahead of the Madrid derby, more than a touch of condescension evident in his words. 

When Atletico Madrid captain Gabi was asked for a response, his message was a simple one: "You can tell he hasn't seen us play much."

He has a point.

Three or four years ago, Arbeloa would have been right, this would have been Atleti's biggest game of the season. But not anymore.

Atletico are no longer the whipping boys of this capital battle and no longer just play waiting for the derby.

Atleti are now a heavyweight, too, and under Diego Simeone, they haven't been beaten by Real Madrid in the league in almost two-and-a-half years. In a staggering eight meetings last season, they were defeated only once. And this season, they'll again be contesting on all fronts with their neighbours—the league, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League. 

Thus, this isn't the game for Atleti. It's simply one of them. 

For Simeone's side, though, a win is vitally important on Sunday, even if at this early stage it's not yet a must.

After a strong start to the new season, the new-look Atleti have suffered consecutive setbacks in the last week, losing first to Villarreal and then at home to Benfica. "It's obviously a bad result," said Simeone after the latter, "we need to focus on our finishing."

Against the Portuguese outfit, his team certainly were wasteful, but with Real Madrid now looming, Simeone's point of focus will entirely different. 

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Indeed, the Argentinian's stunning success against Los Blancos has been built upon his ability to fracture Real's supply lines rather than outgun them. Time and again, his side have brought their neighbours' machine to a grinding halt, their aggression and physicality combined with tactical discipline proving itself to be a powerful cocktail—kryptonite, essentially. 

On Sunday, that's again the task. The primary man to stop: Luka Modric. 

Though there are bigger names in the Real Madrid squad, though others routinely demand the headlines, it's Modric and his understated brilliance that underpin so much of what Real do. 

Last season, when Modric was fit and available, Real Madrid weren't simply lethal, they were breathtaking. His passing crisp, his vision extraordinary, his ability to skip through defences uncanny, Modric was the man who made it all function. Effectively, he was Real's influential director, Cristiano Ronaldo the headline act.

When the Croatian was injured, however, Madrid were rudderless, the numbers revealing just how so. "Modric alone, through his presence and absence, defined the two halves of Real Madrid's season," we said here at Bleacher Report in July.

Though it's not quite as straightforward as "stop Modric and you stop Madrid," if you want to do one, it certainly helps if you do the other. And Atletico know it.

When the midfielder went down with injury ahead of the second leg of last season's Champions League quarter-final meeting between these teams, the response of the Atletico players to the news, per Marca, said it all: "[He's] half the team."

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From Atleti, it was a feeling that was totally understandable. Repeatedly, Simeone's players have shown they're able to blunt Real's end product, stifling the likes of Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale not by building a barricade but by cutting off the source.

In short, the heavy hitters themselves don't scare Atleti; it's the knowledge of what they can do if their supply line isn't cut that does. And both the numbers and Real Madrid's performances with and without him suggest Modric is that supply line. "[He] pulls the strings," said Rafa Benitez on Wednesday after a 2-0 victory over Malmo, even though Modric made only a cameo appearance.

From Benitez, using the Croatian sparingly against the Swedes appeared to be an obvious ploy to save him for Atletico, for the derby. At the hostile Vicente Calderon, it's Modric's system-destroying passes and ball retention that will be essential if the visitors are to control the contest and avoid the drastic loss of traction they suffered in their last league visit here. His freshness is crucial. 

For Atletico, therefore, the task is clear. Stopping Modric lies at the heart of winning a game that, while not the biggest, is certainly one of them.