Luka Modrić chalks up 300 Real Madrid appearances

22 April 2019 – Croatia capitain Luka Modrić has celebrated his 300th appearance in a Real Madrid shirt by playing a hand in the club’s 3-0 win against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday. 

Modrić helped set up Karim Benzema for the second goal of his second half hat-trick. The Frenchman has scored 30 goals in 50 games this season with Sunday’s goals the sixth match in a row he has scored, breaking a club record set by Cristiano Ronaldo. 

The match marked Modrić’s 300th match for the club since signing back in the summer of 2012 for a £30 million transfer fee from Tottenham Hotspur. He made is debut on 29 August 2012 against Barcelona in the second leg final of Super Cup and won his first trophy with the club just 36 hours after signing. 

300 games playing for the best club in the world. #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/vxqMEZFT9w

— Luka Modrić (@lukamodric10) April 21, 2019

There have been plenty more trophies since, with Modrić winning La Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League (4), UEFA Super Cup (3) and FIFA Club World Cup (3) titles. .

He also has won the La Liga Award for “Best Midfielder” in 2016 for the second time, and the UEFA Club Football Award for “Best Midfielder” in 2017 and 2018.

197 of the 300 appearances have been in La Liga, with the rest of the appearances in various cups. Modrić has scored 17 goals for the club. 

Modrić is nowhere near the club record which is set by Raul with 741 apprearances. Iker Casillas is next with 725 matches for the club, whilst Sergio Ramos is the only current player in the top ten with 606 performances.

Modrić has won 118 caps for his country, scoring 14 goals.