Chelsea are in Spain to take on the reigning European champions Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of this season’s Champions League, with the first leg kicking off at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu at 8pm UK time on Wednesday evening.

One area likely to be key is the midfield, where long-time team-mates Luka Modric and Toni Kroos have been part one of the most impressive combinations in world football over the last decade, joined first by Casemiro and now by Eduardo Camavinga.

Although this is the third season in a row that Modric and Real Madrid have faced Chelsea in the Champions League, he will be up against a new midfield opponent this time around. Enzo Fernandez joined the Blues in January, having impressed with fellow quarter-finalists Benfica in the group stage, and picked up right where he had left off with the Portuguese side during our last-16 win over Borussia Dortmund, especially in the second leg at Stamford Bridge.

Making the play

Although both players can often be found operating deep in midfield and trying to dictate the flow of the game, there are fairly big differences between their respective methods, which could bring them face-to-face in a mouth-watering clash between one of the most accomplished members of world football’s old guard and one of the most exciting members of the next generation.

When it comes to creative side of the game, Modric remains one of the best playmakers around, even at the age of 37, although it is notable how similar his statistics in that area are to Enzo’s this season. From wide positions they are identical, each finding a team-mate with one of their five attempted crosses.

Even when looking more widely at that side of the game, they each have one assist so far in the Champions League and Modric’s four key passes are only one more than Enzo has managed. Their overall passing is almost identical too, with 90 per cent accuracy for Modric and 89 per cent for Enzo.

Finding the net

One area where Modric does seem to have the edge is when it comes to goal scoring, as the Croatian international has two European strikes to his name this season with Real Madrid, while Enzo is still waiting for his first Champions League goal and his first for Chelsea in any competition.

However, it is not quite that clear cut, as Modric is helped by his penalty-taking duties, accounting for one of those two Champions League goals in 2022/23, while Enzo has actually managed more shots on target in this season’s competition (five to two), although Modric’s 50 per cent shot accuracy is slightly higher than Enzo’s 45 per cent.

Strong in the tackle

While Modric may be at the very top of the game when it comes to creativity in the midfield, Enzo is clearly the more suited to the defensive side of the position, with his methods for controlling the centre of the pitch having as much to do with winning the ball back quickly as what he does with it once he has it.

Pretty much across the board in the defensive statistics, Enzo comes out on top, including interceptions (nine to seven), clearances (four to three) and blocks (three to none). It is in the tackle that the difference is most apparent, though, with Enzo successfully winning possession through that method 11 times in the 2022/23 Champions League, but Modric has done so once.

With that in mind, it will be fascinating to see whether either player will come out on top at the Bernabeu or whether their respective creative and defensive talents will cancel each other out.