5 world class players who don't get the attention they deserve

#3 Casemiro

Casemiro plays in a position which does definitely not enjoy the limelight, but if you ask Zidane, he might pick Casemiro as the most important player for his system to work. The Brazilian played the role of the destroyer to perfection in the latter stages of Real Madrid’s 2015/16 campaign and was an integral part of Real Madrid’s renaissance under Zidane.

Casemiro’s positioning and tackling skills are invaluable to Zidane and Madrid look like a completely different team without him in midfield. The importance of Casemiro can be seen from the fact that Simeone picked out the Brazilian as the main threat to Atletico ahead of last season’s Champions League final.

Simeone was asked if Casemiro was important to Madrid and replied in the affirmative, saying “For the balance of Real Madrid, yes, certainly. It's going to be a very tense, balanced game. The presence of Casemiro gives them the possibility of regrouping better if they lose the ball.

“Casemiro makes Madrid very dangerous on the counter-attack. If you give them space they're very dangerous.”

Casemiro’s presence allows the much vaunted front three of Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo to play with full freedom. It also allows the midfield duo of Kroos and Modric to bomb forward and add numbers in the box.