In a rather one-sided Madrid derby, between Real Madrid and Getafe, Real's Raphaël Varane was absolutely dominant. The French centre-back put the clamps on Getafe strikers Ángel Rodríguez and Jaime Mata; he even led the charge on the offensive end by scoring two goals.
It was another excellent performance in what has become one of the most storied and yet overlooked careers of the current era. At just 26 years old, Varane already has a litany of notable achievements. He has won four Champions Leagues, two La Liga titles, and a World Cup. Varane was also named to the FIFPro World XI in 2018.
Many do not realize that the man from Lille is already one of the greatest defenders of all time. In each of Los Merengue's Champions League title runs as well as France's victorious World Cup campaign, Varane's defensive excellence served as one of the foundations upon which the victories were built. Over the course of his almost nine years at Real, Varane has been a bedrock of stability and consistency. Yet, when one discusses the current Real team, the names that pop off the page for most includes players such as Thibaut Courtois, Eden Hazard, and Luka Modrić as well as some promising youngsters such as Vinícius Júnior, Luka Jović, and Federico Valverde. Varane is even overshadowed by Sergio Ramos, his regular partner in central defense; however, this is somewhat to be expected because Ramos is unquestionably a top-five, and perhaps the greatest, centre-back of all time (personally, I rank him second behind Franz Beckenbauer).
Varane's role in France's World Cup squad was also somewhat overlooked. Players such as Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappé, and N'Golo Kanté claimed most of the spotlight. Once again, Varane's position does not entirely explain this situation; he was again not even the most heralded defender on his own team. Benjamin Pavard scored the goal of the tournament against Argentina and, alongside Mbappé, was one of the tournament's breakout stars.
In 2013, former France defender Frank Leboeuf claimed that Varane would someday surpass Real legend Fernando Hierro. This prediction proved to be on point because by many different metrics, he already has. Clearly, it's difficult to understate just how unjustly overshadowed Varane has been throughout much of his career. He has definitely been among the five best centre-backs on the planet since 2014; in fact, for much of this period, he has been among the top three. Almost any other player with Varane's combination of accolades and personal achievements would be far more celebrated than he is. However, for various reasons, such has not been the case for Varane.
Despite this fact, I believe that Varane will be held in much higher general regard by most fans after he retires than he is today. To put it into perspective, only seven players in history have ever won four Champions Leagues and a World Cup. Of these seven players, six are active; at the age of 26, Varane is by far the youngest of these active players. Add this fact to the related fact that Real should be in contention for more Champions League titles in future years as well as the fact that France will be among the primary World Cup contenders in 2022 and one can easily see that Varane could potentially end his career with an almost unmatched list of honours.
Furthermore, as Varane is just entering his prime right now at 26, it is very possible that we have not yet seen peak Varane. If he does indeed take his game to a new level, he could perhaps challenge Liverpool superstar Virgil van Dijk as the world's finest at his position over the next few years. It must be noted that van Dijk is also two years older than Varane.
Raphaël Varane will certainly be remembered as one of the greatest defenders in football history. In spite of this fact, he has been underappreciated by far too many observers. However, do not be surprised if in 20 years' time, Varane is esteemed as one of the 10 or even five best centre-backs to ever step onto a football pitch.
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