Luka Modric and his Croatia side fell short once again and dropped points against Albania in their second game. The 2018 World Cup runners-up are currently sat at the bottom of Group A with 1 point from two games and a goal difference of -3. Zlatko Dalic’s side are at the serious risk of being knocked out with them facing Italy in their final game of the group stage.
Dalic lined up his side in a 4-3-3 with a midfield trio of Marcelo Brozovic, Mateo Kovacic and Luka Modric. From the get go, Croatia looked uninspiring, failing to create any danger and struggling to connect their lines from back to front. Albania looked threatning on the counter and punished them early in the game.
Qazim Laci got the faintest of touches on Asani’s cross from the right and Croatian goalkeeper failed to keep the ball out of net. Dalic’s side have already given up four first half goals this tournament and lost all sense of grip on the game beyond this point struggling to impose or create any meaningful danger.
The second half substitution did prompt a sense of urgency with Mateo Kovaci moving into a slightly deeper midfield role and Modric pushing up a little. The overall result however was more of the same. They found a spell of effective possession and scored two goals via Andrej Kramaric and an own goal from Klaus Gjasula. Albania pulled a rabbit out of their hat in the 95th minute, with Gjasula turning hero scoring from a cutback and becoming just the second player to score a goal and an own goal in the same Euros game after Anton Ondrus in 1976.
Luka Modric, despite what the numbers might suggest, did not have a great showing. He played the entire 90 minutes attempting and completing over 100 passes, recording six progressive passes, creating two shots and yet his possession play looked underwhelming at times by his godly standards. His incisive vertical passing failed to find teammates in advantageous positions often.
He tried to do a lot and often to successful measure but Croatia’s disjointed nature and weird tactical plan and profiles on the pitch made matters worse. After a long season with Madrid, Modric has looked slightly worn out this tournament thus far.
The 38-year-old will be hoping for a miracle against defending champions, Italy, in order to advance into the next stage of the competition as their heavy defeat against Spain in the first game has meant they are at the bottom in the “Group of Death”.
