On Wednesday evening, René van der Gijp watched Raphaël Varane with increasing amazement during Real Madrid’s Champions League match against Atalanta (0-1). In particular, the analyst has serious doubts about the footballing qualities of the French defender. Nevertheless, Varane, who was assisted by Nacho in the heart of the defense, has been a fixture in trainer Zinedine Zidane’s team for some time.
“There are many front stoppers who have had a great career, but then I really think: He really can’t play football“, said Van der Gijp Wednesday evening in the studio of SBS6. He (Varane, ed.) Is constantly making wrong decisions. And he doesn’t do that once, he always does. But David Luiz does that a lot too. And Harry Maguire costs 84 million euros, have you ever seen him play a ball? “, The astonished Van der Gijp asked Wim Kieft, who was also present. Then the analyst continued about Varane, who managed to get the ‘zero’ with Real. hold against Atalanta.
“He is world champion”, said Van der Gijp, who was immediately complemented by Kieft. “He has not only become world champion, he has also won the Champions League four times.” Despite his surprise, Van Der Gijp also summed up some of Varane’s strengths. “He is big, strong, fast, he can defend well. But once he is on the ball, it is really laughable.” Kieft thinks Varane misses the collaboration with the injured Sergio Ramos. “He can guide him, he listens to that too.”
Kieft is a lot less impressed with Real nowadays, especially compared to the team that conquered the Champions League four times. “I also think they don’t have the money at the moment,” the analyst looked for causes. “They only took Eden Hazard (for 120 million euros in 2019, ed.), Who never played. Real was the club with the most money in the past, they bought David Beckham, Ronaldo (the Brazilian, ed.), Zinedine Zidane. , Roberto Carlos, you name it all. But nowadays there are still five, six clubs that can do that, because otherwise they would have already made that Kylian Mbappé. Because Paris Saint-Germain is not at all waiting for that money for Mbappé, they have enough money itself. So it is very difficult for Real to bring in those really big players “, said Kieft.