Benjamin Pavard backs France teammate Varane for Ballon D’Or

Raphael Varane has at least the support of one of his French teammates for winning this year’s Ballon D’Or.

“He is a very great man and a great professional.”

“His career has been full of trophies. In addition, this year he won the World Cup and the Champions League, so he deserves it. I hope the winner will be a Frenchman.”

It’s been a while since a defender has won the Ballon D’Or, it hasn’t happened since Fabio Cannavaro. It’s unlikely Varane wins, but as far as defenders go, he would certainly be a finalist among them.

He was quite impressive last season, for both club and country. He was definitely one of Europe’s top defenders and he’s still fairly young. Pavard better be careful though, he might end up upsetting Griezmann.

Roberto Carlos believes Real Madrid must be ‘patient’ with Vinicius

Roberto Carlos spoke with AS about the potential of Vinicius Jr. and how he can potentially live up to it.

“Vinicius will be a superstar, but he has to be given time because he is still very young.”

“It might seem that he is ready to play in the first team but, for the moment, he is going through the affiliated teams.”

“I am sure that in a few years he will be demonstrating the great promise he has.”

Vinicius has obviously already impressed Roberto Carlos, both a Brazilian and Real Madrid legend himself. Vinicius is just 18 years old, so his career could last a very long time if his potential works out.

Roberto Carlos is correct in saying that Vinicius does not need to be rushed to the first team just yet, even though it would be nice to see him get some minutes in matches this season.

Real spent a lot of money to sign both him and Rodrygo from both Flamengo and Santos respectively, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle with both youngsters. At least for Vinicius, he has the backing of an icon for both the same club and country.

Modric reveals shock of Ronaldo and Zidane’s exits

Luka Modric spoke with outlet France Football recently about the departures of both Ronaldo and Zidane from Real Madrid over the summer.

“I wasn’t expecting either of the two to go. I didn’t think Zidane would leave and the same with Ronaldo.”

“In fact when the rumors about Cristiano appeared, we had bets among ourselves and we were certain he would stay, but everyone makes their own decisions.”

It’s probably safe to say that not many in the locker room were truly prepared for either leaving, especially if Modric didn’t even know as he is now one of the club leaders.

It definitely seemed that the Ronaldo rumors were just that, as he was rumored almost every offseason to leave Madrid. Zidane stepping down as manager was also a shock and really came out of nowhere.

The club are still looking to recover from both exits since they’ve been slumping the past several weeks and criticism is drawing high of both Lopetegui and the current squad. They must find a way to move on, if it is even possible to do that so soon.