It must be noted that Los Blancos’ record of 13 straight wins is not only due to Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema’s excellent partnership upfront. The defence has played a great role in that with Carlo Ancelotti finding the correct balance across the field, since their defeat to Atletico Madrid in September.
It involves as many as six clean sheets in the last 10 matches in all competitions. Raphael Varane has played an important role in building this positive stat. Speaking to Madrid-based newspaper MARCA, the young French defender expressed his desire to achieve greater things.
“Real Madrid are in a great place right now because we have a solid defence and are very strong in attack,” he noted.
“Let's hope it lasts, but I think we can improve even more in some areas and that's positive. We've been playing well but we can do better.”
He added:
“We have the quality to keep the ball and play on the counter. We are trying to juggle those two facets of the game.”
Real Madrid are doing well on all fronts. In the Copa del Rey’s Round of 32, they possess a 4-1 advantage over minnows Cornella ahead of the second leg scheduled to take place in December. In La Liga, they top the standings albeit with a little two-point lead over second-placed Barcelona and a three-point lead over third-placed Valencia.
The Spanish giants’ great form is not just on the domestic front. In Europe, they have already qualified for the Last 16. Can they go all the way to win La Undecima?
“It would be amazing. Of course it can be done,” Varane boldly stated.
“We have the quality and the motivation that's needed. We're going to do everything we can to be the first team to do it.”
Not even Barcelona, during the magnificent Pep Guardiola era, managed to win the UEFA Champions League title back-to-back. While Raphael Varane dreams of helping Los Blancos to become the first team to achieve that, he believes there is no point comparing his side with Barcelona.
“There's no need to make comparisons,” he underlined.
“We want to write our own history and we're not going to compare ourselves with anyone. We want to make history with this team. We're not looking at anyone else.”
Real Madrid beat Barcelona 3-1 in the most recent Clasico with Pepe's header proving how influential the defence is
