Marcelo, at 34 years old, has just terminated his contract with Olympiakos and is looking for a new destination. Meanwhile, he has granted an extensive interview to the journalist Martin Ainstein, in the space ‘Bicycle Diaries’ by ESPN. In it, Marcelo opens up, recognizes the harshness of seeing himself on the bench regularly, something that, yes, he assumed naturally and placing the collective ahead of the individual. He does not rule out a possible returnalthough it is not something that is being considered at the moment, and explains that Modric, Kroos and Rodrygo They are the three footballers who have surprised him the most in his career…
Departure from Real Madrid: “If I’m honest, I haven’t left Real Madrid. That is the feeling I have. How do I leave Real Madrid? This is stuck on us. It is impossible for you to leave. And more. I have a point in there. I have a part of me that is in there, which is my son, who is growing up. And apart from that, it’s impossible to say, ‘I’ve left Madrid’. No, I’m not at Real Madrid now. I think so”.
Possible return: “Yes, but I don’t know and I don’t want to think now about what I’m going to do or what I’m not going to do. But I would very much like to return to Real Madrid and be there and try to help the children who need it. Yes, I see myself coming back, but I don’t know exactly why Madrid is so big. So there are several ways to help Madrid. I don’t see myself coming back to be there and now. No. I see myself trying to help Real Madrid more. I see myself as when I came when I was 18 years old to help with my bit. Well, the same”.
Most important title: “Let’s see, I think that any title, when you win, the feeling of having worked all season to win a title is like ‘ufff’. But the first title I won with Madrid was spectacular because I felt like a footballer. How to say, I have a title with Real Madrid. It’s for my story. And then the last one, which for me was where I felt most important. And look, I’ve talked about this before, I knew it was the last one. And I think that it has come in the best possible way, right? Saying goodbye to Real Madrid with a Champions League title. Since we’ve won five, it seems like it’s easy and it’s something like saying, ‘look, next year we win again’. No, this title we know is very, very difficult. And, in the end, a title like this, the last one for me, I think it was the most special, the last one”.
Sensation after winning the 14: “I crouch, I think, I cry, I say, ‘it can’t be’. In other words, I think that it was then that I realized, at that moment, that my cycle at Real Madrid had ended. Just there. At no time before this was it. And then I already thought about my son. My cycle ends, now my son begins. Let’s see if he manages to reach the first team. And already a lot of things. Stop, stop, I have to walk and upstairs I had to talk. The people screaming, so, right now, there is no money or anything to pay you right now. Nothing. The satisfaction of having fulfilled. Leaving through the front door of Real Madrid, that people respect you, not for winning titles, but for what I have given to the club through work, commitment, respect. This, to me, is the greatest. It was brutal, brutal. And people already knew that I was not going to stay. And he said, ‘Marcelo, stay’, but he already knew. I was very calm, very happy, as if saying, ‘look, that’s it, it’s over and we’re going to another one’”.
Importance of Cristiano Ronaldo: “When we start playing football we know that it is not forever. It is clear that he no longer has the speed of before, but he can play yes or yes in any team in the world. He has always given the maximum to his teams. We are talking about a player who has been in the FIFA eleven in The Best for 17 years in a row”.
Contribution to Madrid: “I believe, I can’t tell you one hundred percent, but I think that my way of being, my joy, have contributed a lot to the team. I am not saying that we have won because I was. No. It’s just that I’ve won too. I say that it is very screwed, very difficult to be the captain of the team and be on the bench and watch your teammates play and you don’t play, but you have to train the next day. You have to tell your son, ‘no, it’s that the coach doesn’t count on me, but why?’ There are a lot of things. That is why I say that for me this season (the last one) was the best, because I learned a lot as a human being”.
Who has surprised you the most?: “I have been lucky enough to play for Madrid and I have seen the best. In each training he said “how did you do this!”. Those who have surprised me the most are these three: Toni Kroos, Rodrygo and Modric. Kroos, because I don’t know what’s going through his head, it seems like he’s in his world and he does incredible back checks. He manages to dribble with a control to the players who come from behind, I had never seen it. The other is Rodrygo, the typical player who was born with natural gifts, he dribbles with his body… he is the false slow one, because he is very fast with the ball. And the other is Luka Modric, there are no words. You can’t imagine what Luka is going to do with the ball. One day Rodrygo, Lucas Vázquez and I were on the bench and Luka came in through the middle and came to recover a ball, to the corner, locked up… he dribbled without touching the ball and the one who was marking him didn’t know where he was”.
best trainers: “The best talks, those of Mourinho, a coach who specializes in getting into your head. It changed me into being aggressive, fighting… In group management I prefer zizouBecause there was a time when Kiko Casilla played 25 games and Keylor Navas laughed on the bench. He kept everyone happy. De Carlo I prefer the calm way of being. We scored a goal and we were always calm. It was very good for me to have him now, in the situation he was in. He was the captain of the team, but he prefers someone else to play with, and it’s normal, and he has helped me on this issue ”.
Final stage in Madrid: “I knew I wasn’t the starter and I said: ‘what can I do to help the team?’ Screwed for not playing he was, of course. There is no player who says that he is happy to be on the bench. And if he says so he is lying, it is impossible. I trained to the fullest because I always collided with Carvajal and Lucas and I said these bastards are going to the fullest and they are not going to pass over me, I am going to haggle them whatever. I helped my teammates by competing in training and I felt very useful. My way of being and my joy have contributed a lot, too. I felt like a winner too.”
2011 Classics Storm: “It was crazy. He played the one from LaLiga and thought that he was Champions, and vice versa (laughs). It was very weird, really. I think it didn’t do well for football, because they lost the… People wait a whole year to see a Madrid-Barça game and then that was lost. The Madrid-Barça that I remember the most is the final in Valencia, it was when we said that Madrid is coming. We are talking about the best Barça in history and we were not able to compete there at the top. It was when Zidane arrived and we almost came back from LaLiga when we said we are ready to always fight with any team. And Luka and Sergio said that we could win three or four Champions Leagues in a row…”.