As early as the end of 2021, there were many media reports that La Liga giants Real Madrid will bid farewell to three heroes after the end of the 2021/22 season, namely Gareth Bale, Isco and Marcelo, and is expected to hold a grand farewell ceremony for them at the Bernabeu. Recently, there have been media reports that Marcelo's free body farewell to Real Madrid at the end of the season has become a foregone conclusion, at that time, if Marcelo does not retire, then he will return to Brazil to play, because he does not want to be a rival of Real Madrid, and if the legend chooses to retire directly, then he will stay in Madrid, because Real Madrid will arrange a position for him at that time. From the respect between Real Madrid and Marcelo, it can be seen that Marcelo's contribution to Real Madrid is historical, so considering that this active player has many similarities with Real Madrid's legendary left-back Carlos, we will inevitably compare the two of them. We can carefully explore the four aspects of defensive ability, offensive ability, club honor and national team honor.
Carlos' defensive ability is unstable and flawed, but it is still stronger than Marcelo, a colander
Even when talking about Robert Carlos today, most people will think of his amazing free-kicks and his ability to insert assists in the first gear, but they know very little about his job, that is, the defensive ability on the left side, and mostly stay in the impression stream. In fact, as a famous attacking left-back in world football, Carlos's defensive ability can not be completely poor, but at least it can be described as unstable, considering that his body is strong and fast, most of the time the defense is still online, at least in terms of one-on-one defense, will not be destroyed by the opposing forwards. However, due to the height factor, Carlos is relatively disadvantaged in defending set-pieces and high-altitude balls, which is easy to become a tactical breakthrough for opponents, coupled with his large participation in the attack, and sometimes easy to lack of defensive willingness, in terms of defense is generally at the middle level among players in the same position.
Even though Carlos' defensive prowess is already quite reprehensible, he is still very good in front of his successor Marcelo. Regarding Marcelo, there is a classic saying in the fan circle, that is, "five Marcelo can't defend one Marcelo", which is both a praise for Marcelo's offensive ability comparable to that of a left winger, and a very realistic description of the Brazilian defender's poor defensive ability. Throughout Marcelo's fifteen years of Real Madrid career, he has always had the same flaws as Carlos in defense, and because his physical fitness cannot be compared with his predecessors, his flaws will be further magnified, in order to solve this defect, Ancelotti once decided to replace him with Cohen Trang, and after sitting in the starting position in the later stage, left-back Ramos and even the back Casemiro need to make up for him most of the time, which can maximize the balance of the team's attack and defense. Therefore, in terms of defense, although neither of them depends on this to eat, Carlos can still be slightly better with his physical fitness.
The same as the offensive full-back ceiling, the two are inseparable, Carlos is more comprehensive
Overall, carlos has a hard time occupying the top 1 position in the talented left-back position in world football, however, if purely on the offensive ability, he can be said to be not inferior to anyone he faces. Throughout his career, Carlos scored 96 goals and 114 assists in 756 games, and his ability to insert assists was unsurpassed at the time, for example, Zidane's best goal in the history of the Champions League in that year's Europa League was a cross from Carlos's side. In addition to being able to assist teammates, Carlos's independent offensive ability is also a must, the most well-known of which is his top direct free kick technology in history, in the brilliant lineup of Real Madrid superstars at that time, Carlos was able to force a number of stars to obtain free kicks, which is enough to show his ability, and the total of 49 direct free kicks in his career has become a general existence in the same position.
In contrast to Carlos, Marcelo's peak is no weaker than Carlos in all his offensive abilities except direct free kicks. Needless to say, the left attack he built with Cristiano Cristiano Ronaldo was a nightmare for countless teams, and also in the Champions League final, Marcelo's wing cross was transformed into a stunning barb by Gareth Bale, and like Zidane and Carlos' flying fairy, it became one of the classic goals in the history of the Champions League. As for the ability to score goals, Marcelo is also completely out of carlos, during real Madrid's champions league three consecutive years, Marcelo as a full-back, in the face of Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain and other top european giants have scored, he can not be said to be a great contribution to Real Madrid's champions in those years, but it can also be regarded as indispensable. Marcelo's only offensive link that cannot be compared with Carlos is the direct free kick, and due to the long-term same team with top free kickers such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Ramos, Bale and Modric, the Brazilian cannot get the right to take free kicks, which also makes him lose again in the comparison of offensive ability.
Marcelo was more successful at club level and Carlos was the favourite at the national team level
Counting their career honors, marcelo and Carlos can be called winners in life, but their directions are slightly different. In terms of club honours, Marcelo is undoubtedly more successful, relying on a more comprehensive and balanced squad, Marcelo's Galaxy II has won a lot of success both in the domestic league and in Europe, in Spain, Marcelo has helped the team win five La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey titles, and five Spanish Super Cup titles so far, while in Europe and the world, Marcelo has helped Real Madrid win four Champions League titles and four Club World Cup titles. and three European Super Cup winners. Considering that Real Madrid are currently leading in the La Liga table, they have great hopes of winning the La Liga title this season, and at the same time, in the Champions League, Real Madrid is still among the contenders, in other words, Marcelo will most likely win at least one championship trophy after the end of this season, which will allow him to surpass the legendary Hento and enjoy the largest number of champions in real Madrid's history, in this regard, Carlos can not be compared, because even if the legendary left-back has played for seven clubs in his career, he has only won twenty championship trophies. And the gold content is far from being comparable to Marcelo.
But even if the club's honor level is invincible, Carlos can fully find the field at the national team honor level, Carlos since 1992 for the Brazilian national team for the first time in the official competition, and then in 2006 eclipsed the national team, fourteen years of samba legion career, helped the Brazilian national team to win four championships on the world stage, including the 1997 Confederations Cup, 1997 and 1999 two Copa America champions, and the 2002 World Cup champion, He is a strong candidate for the best left-back in the history of the Samba Army. Marcelo, on the other hand, was relatively lackluster in terms of national team honors, with no national awards other than the only bronze medal he had at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and even became part of the eternal scar of samba's legion at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where brazil lost 1-7 in the semi-finals against the German national team, and Marcelo was one of the starting players of the game. It can be said that if Marcelo can only be slightly better at the club level, then the comparison at the national team level is completely abused.
Overall, Carlos has a much higher historical position in football than Marcelo, and the club's best squad should also be selected
Through the above comparison, we can basically conclude that in the long river of world football, there have been many excellent left-backs, including Ashley Cole, Maldini, Ram, etc., without first comparing Carlos and these people who are stronger, at least in the comparison with Marcelo, Carlos is the stronger one. As for simply comparing real Madrid careers, although Marcelo has more white-clad career champions, if you want to select the best team in the history of the club, I believe that Carlos, who has the advantage of comprehensive ability, can still squeeze out Marcelo to be selected. Of course, even so, it is impossible to hide Marcelo's greatness, and he will always be a part of Real Madrid's glorious history like Carlos!