From Fast and Furious to a convertible
This time last year, Eduardo Camavinga began to show the world just what those scouts had been talking about for years, only at the top level of club football. As Real Madrid pursued a series of impossible comebacks in the Champions League, the 19-year-old, somewhat impudent Camavinga became everyone’s favourite cameo actor.
Like the blue nitrous in the original Fast and Furious films, Camavinga would turbo-charge everything. When the final straight came into view, Carlo Ancelotti would press the Camavinga button. The speed of the game, heart-rates and the sense of jeopardy all increased rapidly - Madridistas would strap themselves in for the white-knuckle ride. As the pace quickened and the game collapsed into chaos though, it was always a Real Madrid star panting with an adrenaline smile at the end.
Once that adrenaline had exited the system, and the La Liga season began again though, it is not unjust to say that Camavinga returned to his role as an accoutrement to Real Madrid, rather than a part of the engine. That much was illustrated when he was hooked after 45 minutes against Almería on the opening day of the season. With a booking to his name and Largie Ramazani causing Carlo Ancelotti a cold sweat, at that point Casemiro seemed the very antithesis of Camavinga. Three weeks later, Camavinga started against Real Betis, and was the first substitute again for Fede Valverde. Los Blancos would slide into control, and the lead, just two minutes later.
The early bookings, the ferocious pursuit of the ball, and the positional carelessness were disorganising his own team as much the opposition. The same had been the case last season, before he became the game-changer extraordinaire of the Champions League.
Hence why, as we approach the same stage of the competition, against the same opponents in Chelsea, it is in equal measures jarring and impressive to know that when Real Madrid release their line-up two hours before kick-off, it will be a shock if Camavinga’s name isn’t included. Just a year on, Camavinga is now an integral part of this Real Madrid, in multiple positions no less. The Angolan-born starlet will equal his 46 appearances from last season if he plays on Wednesday night; in terms of minutes, he is already 734 ahead of his total last campaign. The 28 starts he has earned so far are certain to double his count of 16 in 2021-22.
When Real Madrid’s season threatened to unravel in dramatic fashion at Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey, Camavinga was trusted to deal with Raphinha time and again in acres of space. He won the ball back 7 of the 8 times the Brazilian or Ferran Torres ran at him, before completing all 32 of the passes he played. As Vinícius Júnior lurked on the break, Camavinga shut down much of that flank on his own.
A month into the campaign, it was almost impossible to conceive of anyone but Aurelién Tchouaméni occupying Casemiro’s vacated pivot role. Starting with a smooth guile and neat footwork, he will doubtless compete for the position again, but it would be madness to drop Camavinga for him currently. The right amount of chaos as the pivot in the first leg against Liverpool, he was collected and controlled in the second leg, a mirror image of his team.
Justifiably, Erling Haaland earns all of the Terminator-esque comparisons of the day, but there is a scary element of the unstoppable about this marvellous Frenchman too. With every battle, he seems to grow stronger. There’s a bit of magic in his boots too, but his capacity to acquire and use information is unsettling. No development is linear, but you can’t help but tentatively wonder what form this phenomenon might take on a year from now.