This article is part of Football FanCast's Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC's microscope.

Real Madrid beat Granada 4-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday and they largely had Luka Modric to thank.

Snapshot

Zinedine Zidane's troops are in red-hot form in La Liga.

Not only are Los Blancos still top of the table but they're also unbeaten in their opening eight clashes of the new season. In fact, their only loss of the 2019/20 campaign came in Europe, when they were beaten 3-0 by PSG at Parc des Princes.

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Despite their victory, it was far from a perfect night for the Galacticos. The injury to Toni Kroos is definitely a big concern, but the man who replaced the German midfielder on the night just might lead them in his absence as well.

A much-needed reinforcement

Modric was injured for quite a while himself and he missed four games across all competitions due to a fitness issue.

But now he's back and it was actually his substitution that made a huge impact on the clash against Granada, making his teammate's injury look like a blessing in disguise.

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The 34-year-old Croatian midfielder was bossing the middle of the park and dictating the play overall. Of course, he was also the one who scored Real's third goal on the night but he did so much more than just that.

Modric tallied two key passes, 86.4% passing accuracy and 66 touches during the game.

But he was also active going the other way, as well - two tackles and two interceptions can attest to that and with a 7.95 rating, he was Whoscored's Man of the Match.

Looking at the numbers, it really does not come as a surprise at all.

Kroos' injury is definitely a concern for Zidane but having Modric in top form will surely help Real weather that storm.