Real Madrid's Director of Institutional Relations Emilio Butragueno praised Croatian midfielder Luka Modric who scored in Real's 4-0 win over last-placed Spanish league side Elche on Wednesday night.

Modrić entered the game at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the 68th minute, and scored a goal in the 80th minute by sending the ball into the upper corner from a distance of sixteen meters, which was the last goal of the match. The first goal was scored by Marco Asensio, and striker Karim Benzema added two. Their contract, just like the Croatian player, expires on June 30.

"We are lucky to have players of such a level, who are among the best in the world. It's a privilege to be able to enjoy them," said Butragueno when asked about Benzema and Modric.

"Luka constantly performs exhibitions, he is a master with the ball, and also when a decision needs to be made or when a solution is sought in the game," he added.

Modrić, who has been playing for the 'King’s Club' since 2012, has repeatedly said that he would like to end his career at Real Madrid, so he hopes to extend his current contract.

Midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, brought in in the summer of 2021, was asked after the game whether he sees himself as a striker in place of Modric and Toni Kroos, who is also out of contract in four and a half months.

"I do not know. Kroos and Luka are great players. I'm here to study and play as much as possible," he answered.

This was the 30th game of the season for Modrić, who won the Club World Cup with Real Madrid on Saturday.

After joining Real Madrid in January after the World Championship in Qatar, where he won the bronze medal with Croatia, coach Carlo Ancelotti said that he came back a bit exhausted and that he still needs to get in optimal shape.

"He is very important to me, and I believe to others as well," Ancelotti said at a press conference on Wednesday evening.

"Now everyone is important, so I can't always put the same players in the starting line-up. I have to rotate them. Kroos came off the bench earlier and scored, and Modrić did the same today. Therefore, they are capable of scoring even when they come off the bench. I don't know if they will agree with that, but the statistics show that," he added.

Ancelotti has been rotating Modrić in the championship for the last month and a half, but the player with ten on his back last week, in the space of four days, was in the starting line-up in the semi-finals and final of the World Club Championship.

"Luka is slowly returning to good form," commented former Real striker Predrag Mijatović, Modrić's neighbour in the northern suburbs of Madrid.

"He scored a goal that was not overly important for the result of the game, but it was important to him. He needed a goal like this," he added.