Ranking Real Madrid's Players on Their Performances at Euro 2016
Real Madrid saw eight members of their squad chosen for international duty at Euro 2016, with a ninth—Alvaro Morata—added midway through the tournament after he rejoined from Juventus.
With representatives in the Spain national side as well as Croatia, Germany, Portugal and Wales, Real fans were always likely to have someone to watch in the final itself—and it turned out that way, with Portugal beating France in extra time.
The tournament went rather better for some in the squad than others, but all nine made it through to the knockout stage with their respective nations; here we take a look at how each player fared and who performed best overall.
9. Lucas Vazquez, ESP
1 of 9
Played: Once as substitute
Reached: Last 16, beaten by Italy
Lucas Vazquez ended the 2015-16 season in great form for Real Madrid, acting as a super-sub in attack and starting matches in La Liga to keep the first XI wide attackers free for European action.
He gatecrashed Vicente del Bosque's squad despite never having been capped before, thanks to his speed in wide areas and propensity for creating chances late in games—and when he was given the No. 9 shirt in the squad and made his debut just before the tournament against Georgia, there would have been expectations he could play a part.
When it came to the real action, though, Del Bosque either changed his mind or lost his faith, and Lucas sat unused on the bench throughout the group stage, even when Spain were losing the final fixture against Croatia.
He eventually came off the bench to play 20 minutes against Italy in the round of 16, but there was little he could do against one of the best defences in the tournament. A disappointment overall, but at least he won his first caps this summer.
8. Mateo Kovacic, CRO
2 of 9
Played: Twice as substitute
Reached: Last 16, beaten by Portugal
Mateo Kovacic has been seen as a player with the biggest future in the Croatia national team for some time, but he went backward in 2015-16 at club level and that was reflected in his reduced status on the international stage.
With Marcelo Brozovic and Milan Badelj ahead of him in midfield—as well as guaranteed starters Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric—Kovacic was restricted to being a sub and was only brought on to to see out matches and rest the starters.
He came on for close to half an hour against the Czech Republic, during which time Croatia threw away a two-goal lead, and then played eight minutes as sub against Spain—and that was it. Kovacic was left unused on the bench in the round of 16, even though it went to extra time, and his side went out.
The former Inter Milan man was nowhere near his best, wasted a couple of scoring or passing chances against the Czech Republic and essentially saw the tournament bypass him.
7. Sergio Ramos, ESP
3 of 9
Played: Started all four games, playing every minute
Reached: Last 16, beaten by Italy
Spain's first-choice centre-back with Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos was always assured of his spot in the team and wore the captain's armband in the absence of Iker Casillas, who was left on the bench.
It was not, however, a tournament for Ramos to remember, as he showed many of the inconsistencies and poor moments of concentration that he had displayed all season for Real Madrid; missing his marker, losing aerial battles and moving out of position to leave gaps behind.
In the defeats to Croatia and Portugal, he could be looked at for particularly poor moments of play which cost the team.
There were clean sheets in the other two fixtures, but for such an important member of the team he was a disappointment overall. Ramos needs to rediscover his consistency in 2016-17 after a poor individual year.
6. Alvaro Morata, ESP
4 of 9
Played: Started all four games
Reached: Last 16, beaten by Italy
Alvaro Morata headed into Euro 2016 as Spain's starting striker, one of just two named by Del Bosque, the other being veteran Aritz Aduriz.
Despite his club future being up in the air at the time, Morata generally performed well and scored three of Spain's five goals at the tournament—two against Turkey and one against Croatia, both matches in the group phase.
His first match was rather more low key and disappointing as he continually came short for possession and strayed outside the penalty box rather than giving Spain the penetration and close-to-goal presence they required, but clearly he took those lessons on board and was far more predatory thereafter.
Morata was one of Spain's better-performing players overall and, with Del Bosque to be replaced, he should have put himself in the frame to remain the starting striker when the new manager comes in.
5. Luka Modric, CRO
5 of 9
Played: Started three matches
Reached: Last 16, beaten by Portugal
Back to Croatia and Modric was the fulcrum of the team, the central point around which much play evolved.
He could easily have been ranked higher, but a combination of his team going out earlier than they should have and an injury which saw him sit out the victory over Spain means we'll keep him in fifth—but Modric was somewhere near his excellent best and teamed up well with Rakitic to link many of Croatia's best moves.
Hard-working, rarely caught in possession and his usual mix of creativity and aggression from the centre of the park made Modric a very watchable player, and he'll remain integral to Real Madrid next term.
4. Gareth Bale, WAL
6 of 9
Played: Started all six games
Reached: Semi-finals, beaten by Portugal
Perhaps the most unexpected run of all the participants at Euro 2016, Wales qualified for their debut European Championship and went all the way to the last four, thanks in no small part to the efforts of attacker Gareth Bale.
Playing as a central, roving front man, with one striker ahead and a battalion of hard-working midfielders and wing-backs behind, Bale had licence to exploit spaces on both sides of the pitch and surge forward to lead his team's attack on the counter.
He scored two free-kicks—one against England and one against Slovakia—before making it three in three group games with a finish against Russia to help Wales top the group.
An assist against Northern Ireland and a fantastic individual display in perhaps the team performance of the Euros against Belgium saw Bale play a pivotal role as Wales reached the semis.
Even so, the Welshman wasn't at his absolute peak of non-stop attacking, dribbling and shooting, but that's far more to do with the overall level of the team and their tactics rather than Bale being off-colour, and the self-sacrifice he made to incorporate other parts of his game was particularly pleasing to see.
3. Toni Kroos, GER
7 of 9
Played: Started all six games, playing every minute
Reached: Semi-finals, beaten by France
Restored to a two-man central midfield pivot, Toni Kroos again flourished by exploiting the space he played in and the ability to drift into attacking positions.
His passing and incisive play was one of Germany's best traits, as they wore teams down, beat them on the counter and looked a good bet to win the entire tournament—until injuries in attack got the better of them.
Kroos was consistent, central to the team's offensive and defensive plans and tactically looked as good as at any point since Real Madrid signed him—not a huge coincidence, considering the role he has been used in at club level since 2014.
The midfielder took Germany's first kick in the semi-final shootout and scored confidently—which can't be said for many of the following takers, with six of the next eight spot-kicks not being scored after Kroos'.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo, POR
8 of 9
Played: Started all seven
Reached: Final, winners
Unsurprisingly, our top two are the victorious duo from Portugal and second place goes to the skipper who lifted the trophy, Cristiano Ronaldo.
The wide forward at Real Madrid was used as a central striker by his nation, at times in a two with Nani and other times alone as they stretched the midfield. His endless running and creating space came at the expense of many individual actions, with Ronaldo's dribbling and shooting—so often seen at the Santiago Bernabeu—replaced by knockdowns, short link play and then trying to get himself into the penalty box.
Oddly, his finishing was missing at times, notably in the quarter-finals against Poland when he failed to make contact with a series of chances, but his leadership and determination to make this tournament a success were what shone through more often than not.
He netted two goals against Hungary to seal passage from the groups, then powered in a header against Wales in the semi-finals. They were Ronaldo's only three goals from the seven matches, but his influence on the team and contribution to the cause was far greater.
After leaving the pitch injured after 25 minutes in the final, Ronaldo was part-cheerleader, part-coach from the sidelines and his dream of lifting a trophy on the international stage was finally achieved thanks to Eder's late goal.
1. Pepe, POR
9 of 9
Played: Started six matches
Reached: Final, winners
Top of the pile for Real Madrid's contributors at Euro 2016 was Pepe, Real's best centre-back at club level across the 2015-16 season and certainly the most consistent heading into the summer.
Pepe missed the semis through injury but returned for the final. In the six games he played in France, he was one of the best at Euro 2016: rugged and uncompromising at times, aggressive and annoying for some, but also resilient, determined and capable. Team-mate Sergio Ramos could stand to take on board some of Pepe's commitment to consistency.
The Portugal No. 3 was immense in the air and first to react on second balls along the ground, a perfect and necessary approach to defending given Portugal's happiness to sit off, defend deep and then look to build play quickly through their attacking midfielders.
With power and pace being the order of the day in attack, strength and resilience were called for at the back—and Pepe gave Portugal plenty of both.
They didn't lose a single game, kept four clean sheets including one in the final and Pepe, along with Ronaldo, adds the Euro 2016 trophy to the UEFA Champions League he won just a couple of weeks ago.
