It's probably no coincidence that Real Madrid got back to winning ways with the return of Marcelo. The six goals on Saturday against Betis were followed up by five against Legia Warsaw and there seems little doubt that the Brazilian has a huge influence on how Madrid play. Missing from the team since early September with a soleus muscle injury, Marcelo's availability leaves Zinedine Zidane no longer having to redeploy players to the left flank.
As we've seen in the last two games, Marcelo being back gives the team that added dimension which you sometimes don't really notice is missing until he's out of the side.
It's not enough nowadays for a player in his position just to be able to defend or attack. Versatile players who can both attack and defend are worth their weight in gold. Although Marcelo's maybe added a kilo or two in that respect thanks to his enforced absence, he'll soon shed that if he continues to get up and down the pitch the way he's done in the last two games. From a fitness aspect you wouldn't know that he's been out for a month; especially when you consider that it's often so hard to maintain general fitness levels while recovering from injury.
Marcelo's obviously put in a lot of graft over the past couple of weeks in anticipation of his return. We saw him training in the gym, building up his fitness on the training ground as he got stronger, and finally joining in the recent sessions at Valdebebas before making his comeback at Betis.
At the Benito Villamarín last Saturday he didn't look as though he'd been out injured for such a long time. The surging runs were there again and that's probably been one of the main differences in Real Madrid's play when Marcelo is available; the emphasis is always on attacking and getting forward. In some ways Marcelo looks as though he doesn't have a set position at all; roaming all over the place with the freedom that you would expect Cristiano to have. Whether that freedom has been formally agreed or actually meets with Zidane's approval might be another question; but it seems to be working!
Marcelo just seems to never stop running. His name is synonymous with the word ‘lively' and that's surely one of his biggest strengths. When he loses the ball he chases back, when Real are in possession he gets himself forward into attacking positions. I'd like to see his stats for picking up loose balls played out of the opposition penalty area because so often it seems to be Marcelo who is the one to set off the second wave of attack.
He's suffered with a few injuries as well over the last twelve months, starting with the sciatica / back injury last summer which kept him out for a few weeks at the time Rafa took over; a groin strain in November, and a shoulder ACJ injury in February at Granada. The succession of injuries last season also led to a memorable fall out between Zidane and Brazil coach Carlos Dunga over Marcelo's fitness for the national team; but on that occasion there was little doubt that it was Real who reaped the benefit as the latter stages of the Champions League approached.
This time around it's been the calf problem that's kept Marcelo on the sidelines; a popular injury at Real Madrid it would appear with soleus injuries suffered in recent times by Raphaël Varane, James and Gareth Bale giving Zidane an injury hat-trick that I'm sure he didn't want. These have all been well-documented and discussed so we won't bother going over old ground, but as he always does, Marcelo seems to manage to come back from these enforced absences fitter and stronger.
There's no doubt that Marcelo is one player who makes thing tick when he's on form. Let's hope he can stay clear of further injuries and get a steady run in the side; he'll be welcome against Athletic on Sunday.