La Liga: Luka Modric stars as Real Madrid begin post-Casemiro era with 4-1 win over Celta Viga

Luka Modric is making it easier for Real Madrid fans to start getting over Casemiros departureA day after the Brazil midfielder announced he was ending his successful decadelong stint with Madrid to join Manchester United his former teammate scored a beautiful goal and set up another to help the defending champion beat Celta Vigo 41 on Saturday for its second consecutive win to start the Spanish leagueModrics performance was worthy of applause even by Celta fans when the veteran was substituted in the second halfIt is always nice Modric saidIt makes me happy to be recognised by other fansKarim Benzema Viniacutecius Juacutenior and Federico Valverde also scored as Madrid comfortably followed up its comefrombehind win at promoted Almeriacutea in the openerIt was Madrids first game since losing Casemiro the trusted holding midfielder who had been one of the defensive anchors of the Spanish powerhouseWe made history together here Modric saidHe was a fundamental piece for us and we will miss him a lot both as a player and as a person We are sad that he left but its part of soccer We have to move on without him and each one of us has to give something extra to make up for his absenceWithout the Brazilian Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti set up the midfield with Eduardo Camavinga newly signed Aureacutelien Tchouameacuteni and Modric who had not started against AlmeriacuteaThe 36yearold Modric took over the midfield on Saturday controlling the pace both defensively and offensivelyAlso Read Dortmund stunned as Bremen score 3 goals in last 6 minutes to win from 20 downHe scored his goal with a wellplaced curling shot into the top corner after a nifty move to get past a defender at the top of the area in the 41st minute at Balaiacutedos StadiumModric is a fantastic leader for us Ancelotti saidHe played very well and scored the most important goal of the match because it put us ahead and made everything easierBenzema Madrids top player last season scored his first goal of this campaign by converting a 14thminute penalty kick after video review spotted a handball by Celta midfielder Renato Tapia inside the areaCelta equalised with another penalty kick less than 10 minutes later with Iago Aspas finding the net from the spot after a handball by Madrid defender Eacuteder MilitatildeoAfter putting his team ahead Modric sent a nice through ball to Vinicius Juacutenior in a breakaway in the 56th and the Brazil forward found the net after dribbling past Celta goalkeeper Agustiacuten MarchesiacutenSome Celta fans stood to applaud Modric when he was substituted by Dani Ceballos in the 77th Valverde closed the scoring after a pass by Viniacutecius Juacutenior in the 66thSubstitute Eden Hazard missed a chance to increase Madrids lead when he missed a late penalty kick with Marchesiacuten saving his shotIn addition to Casemiros absence Ancelotti also could not count on midfielder Toni Kroos because he had the flu Forward Rodrygo was not in the squad because of an injuryMadrid is seeking backtoback league titles since 200708 American midfielder Luca de la Torre entered the match in the 87th to make his Spanish league debutThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever