Varane: Real Madrid's talisman and called up for France

Raphael Varane reached his best against Barcelona in the last Classic, but he has being the Real Madrid talisman since he joined white team in the 2011 summer. Of the 32 games he has played since he arrived two seasons ago, has lost only two plying for Real Madrid. Against Borussia in Germany (2-1) and against Celta in a match of this year's Spanish Cup (2-1). The rest have been 25 wins and 5 draws, representing about 80% of wins.

Raphael Varane vs Barcelona

Real Madrid also can claim that when the French central defender plays from the starting lineup, its chances of staying with clean goal, rise a lot. With Varane, the white team has run without conceding a goal against eleven times, five of them this season.

It is normal to be the center of attention this week. In fact, the Real Madrid defender, Raphael Varane, was called up yesterday by the French coach Didier Deschamps, to play France's friendly against Germany next week. This is the second call of the footballer, 19 years old, to play for the team managed by Deschamps, who called Varane for his first game on the bench of the "Bleus" against Uruguay.

The performance of the French defender who scored the goal that levelled the match has been the focus of the international sporting press. In France, L’Equipe singled out its countryman: “Varane stopped Barcelona. He was the man of the match. He had a great game in defence and his equalizer keeps Real Madrid’s hopes of qualifying alive after drawing against Barcelona”. According to France Football, “Varane, imperious in the centre of the defence stopped Barcelona and left his mark on the semi-final of la Copa”. Le Monde added: "The Young Frenchman Raphael Varane enjoyed himself in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, scoring with his head in Jose Manuel Pinto’s net from a good cross from Mesut Özil".

The rest of the world also praised the Madrid defender. “Varane rises to the top in Clasico. A new star was born at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night. A defensive rock who stole the show in his first ever Clasico appearance with the supreme talent that he showed throughout the 90 minutes”, said ESPN on its website. In Germany, Kicker stated that “Varane saves Madrid with his head”, while in Italy La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote: “Near the end, a cross from Özil and header by Varane: deserved reward for a great performance from the French defender".