14:55 / 24.02.2025

Match of the day in Spain: Modric is still scoring goals at the age of 39 (video)

This article will provide you with the main events that took place in Spanish football on Sunday evening, with important information on the goals in the matches and the situation in the tournament table.

Athletic - Valladolid 7:1
Goals: Haureguisar (10), N. Williams (35, 66), Sannadi (43), Sunset (45+2), Guruseta (69), I. Williams (87).
"Athletic" — Unai Simon, Berchiche, Paredes, Vivian, De Marcos (Lecue, 75), Vesga, Hauregisar (Ruiz de Galarreta, 64), Nico Williams (Canales, 68), Sunset (Berenger, 68), Inyaki Williams, Sannadi (Guruseta, 64).
Valladolid — Heyn, Candela (Machis, 46), Perez, Torres, Aydu (Jemert, 65), Sanchez, Chuki (Moro, 46), Jurich, Martin (Grillich, 61), Silla, Marcos Andre (Nikicher, 68).
Warnings: Martin (44), Jurich (46).
Dismissal: Juric (56), Vivian (79), de Galarreta (84).

It can be said that in Spain there are currently "big three", "Athletic" and other teams fighting for the championship. Ernesto Valverde is making a good impression with his work in Bilbao. The Basques are playing spectacularly, and the match against "Valladolid" was a benefit for Nico Williams. On Sunday, the hosts could have scored more than seven goals, but the referee took pity on the visitors and ended the match even before the 90th minute. During the playing time, the hosts had 16 direct shots on goal. Such an indicator has not been recorded in the Spanish championship since April 2023, when the same "Valladolid" was shot at by "Real" (17 shots).

"Real" - "Girona" 2:0
Goals: Modric (41), Vinicius (83).
"Real" — Courtois, Vasquez, Alaba (Kamawinga, 73), Asensio, Mendy, Chuameni, Modric (Rüdiger, 85), Diaz (Ceballos, 73), Vinicius (Endric, 90), Rodrigo, Mbappe.
Girona — Gassaniga, Lopez, Krejcii, Blind, Martinez, Romeu (Romero, 66), Martin (Hill, 66), Gutierrez (Miovski, 75), Van de Beek (Arthur, 56), Tsigankov, Danjuma (Asprila, 66).
Warnings: Krejci (64), Romero (70).

On the eve of Real Madrid's next match, it was reported that Madrid are planning to extend the contract with 39-year-old Modric until the summer of 2026. Luka, who has already been retired by many due to his age, still wants to play in the World Cup. It is not yet known how accurate this insider is, but it is clear that the Croatian player is not going to stop.

In addition, his long-range shot against Girona was his fourth since the beginning of 2025. To put this figure into perspective, this is twice as many goals as the previous two years. Modric is on a par with Vinicius Junior in terms of productivity, with the Brazilian winger having not scored in La Liga since November 9, 2024 (and a month since his last goal for the club, against Salzburg in the Champions League main round). He ended his goalless streak in the 83rd minute with a combination with Mbappe that decided the outcome of the match.

In the 25th round, all three teams in the top three collected three points, which is not always the case. It will not be easy to repeat this in the next round: Real Madrid will face Betis, Barcelona will play Sociedad, and Atletico will play Athletic.