Real Madrid's tale of two legends: Luka Modric the hero as Sergio ...

As soon as the final whistle came and Real Madrid fans could celebrate a hard-fought home win over Sevilla, eyes quickly turned to two men in the middle: Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos.

Nearly 10 years ago, in May 2014, the two combined for one of the most iconic goals in Madrid’s history — Ramos’ 93rd-minute equaliser in the Champions League final against Atletico Madrid. La Decima, that elusive 10th European Cup Real had been waiting over a decade to win, cannot be understood without this brilliant connection.

On Sunday night, Ramos and Modric swapped shirts at the end of Madrid’s 1-0 La Liga win at home to Sevilla, the hometown club Ramos re-joined last summer. Their gestures of affection were hardly surprising; the Croatian and the Spaniard were team-mates for nine seasons and still spend summers together with their families.

“He is my brother. His level is simply outstanding. Maximum happiness after seeing him, I talked to him yesterday, he was very emotional,” Modric told Real Madrid TV.

Sunday was Ramos’ first match at the Santiago Bernabeu since his departure from the club in 2021 when he left to join Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent. Despite having made 671 appearances after joining from Sevilla in 2004, he left in slightly controversial circumstances, with Los Blancos withdrawing an offer to renew his contract over him taking too long to reply.

Now 37 (he turns 38 in March), Ramos said in the build-up to the match that he would not celebrate if he scored against Madrid, while it later emerged that his former club had prepared a small tribute for him before kick-off, modest in scale as they did not want to detract from the importance of the fixture.

Victory for Madrid maintained their eight-point La Liga lead over second-placed Barcelona, with third-placed Girona, now nine points behind, to play Rayo Vallecano tonight (Monday).

But even before the game started, Ramos was attracting special attention, as a larger than usual crowd gathered outside Sevilla’s team hotel, about a 1km drive from the Bernabeu, keen to catch a glimpse of the Madrid legend. They offered their shirts for him to sign, which he did.

Once in the stadium, TV pictures showed how the veteran centre-back quickly made himself comfortable in familiar surroundings, entering various rooms and greeting faces he knew well but hadn’t seen for years. When he came out to warm up, he received a lot of affection from the stands, which he returned, with emotion on his face.

When the line-ups were called out, the speaker left Ramos’ name until last, anticipating an extra cheer, but the reaction was not extraordinarily loud, nor were there any big banners or chants in his honour. Ramos was Sevilla’s captain for the game, arranged yesterday after he made a request to Jesus Navas. It made for a nice scene with his Los Blancos counterpart Nacho before kick-off.

When the match began, however, there were several instances where Ramos was whistled on the ball. These grew as the minutes ticked by, but the noise was never in the majority.

Ramos worked hard in defence and, as usual, tried his best in attack — until the end, as one of Real Madrid’s slogans goes. He was the one who gave the ball to Suso for the last action of the match, a free kick that he tried to meet inside the box. Wearing the white of Madrid, Ramos had countless times managed to find a late goal from exactly that kind of position, but this time the ball did not reach him.

Instead, his old friend Modric played the role of late hero.

Modric was not a starter on Sunday, but when he came off the bench to warm up, a reaction was felt around the ground. Few players, perhaps none, have that kind of effect without even entering the pitch.

As soon as he emerged, it was known that he would play — Ancelotti explained in January that when Modric comes off the bench, it is because he will feature. When he did step onto the pitch, in the 75th minute, Nacho was replaced, with Aurelien Tchouameni dropping into defence. It worked wonders.

Some six minutes later, Modric found the back of the net with a beautiful curling shot from outside the box. It clipped the post on the way in and delirium ensued. There were parallels with the 2013 strike he scored at Manchester United in the Champions League last 16; the Croatian’s enduring magic transporting us back in time. His Madrid team-mates rallied around him, holding him aloft as camera lights flashed, capturing another image that promises to live long in the minds of those who saw it.

Despite the euphoria, this has not been an easy season for Modric. Now 38, his contract expires in June and the option of renewing is not a simple one, even though Ancelotti says in press conferences that it only depends on the player.

“I understand perfectly what he is going through — it happened to me in the last year of my career,” said Ancelotti, referencing the reduced game time Modric has had this season. He is the team’s 15th most-used player this term and believes if he were to play more, he would prove he still has plenty to contribute.

That is why, a couple of months ago, he kindly declined Ancelotti’s proposal to join his coaching staff if he decides to retire this year. And that is also why, after his winning goal, he posted on social media: “Never give up. HALA MADRID.”

He wasn’t just referring to Sunday’s match.

(Top photo: Angel Martinez/Getty Images)