At a glance
- Marcelo won five Champions League titles during a glittering 16-season spell at the Bernabeu.
- Asked by compatriot and Barcelona legend Romario, he confessed he’d trade those title for a World Cup win with Brazil.
- The left back called the 7-1, 2014 World Cup semifinal defeat against Germany the worst of his career.
Real Madrid legend Marcelo made bold confessions to compatriot Romario, which might irk some Los Blancos fans.
Arriving in the Spanish capital as a boy with braces from Fluminense in 2007, the left back departed it in 2023 as a man with 25 trophies to his name.
Five of those are Champions League crowns. But when asked by Romario on his popular podcast if he’d trade all of those in for one World Cup title with Brazil, M12 gave an interesting answer.
After pausing for five-seconds, Marcelo said: “That question is tremendous. Hey, I’m going to be honest with you… I would change it. “
Marcelo didn’t stop there in his possible attempt to hurt the Real Madrid fanbase
Then asked to choose between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Marcelo dodged the question and talked about how the luck he had to see them both.
When pushed to come to a decision, however, he said: “Messi. Messi is incredible.”
That could also offend Brazilian. But at least it wasn’t asking to pick one between Messi and Pele, which Romario knows better than to raise.
Marcelo will always be a Real Madrid icon
No matter what he said, Marcelo’s comments, though perhaps confusing for Madridistas, don’t make him any less of a legend.
Brazilians are incredibly patriotic and representing the national team is a career achievement for them. Perhaps Marcelo feels unfulfilled internationally, especially by having gotten to the semifinal of the World Cup in 2014 yet suffering the 7-1 massacre that he called the worst defeat of his career.
He still clearly loves his club, though, and had his picture taken in a Zidane jersey just this week while watching Alvaro Arbeloa’s men lose 2-1 to Bayern Munich in the UCL quarterfinals.
His sons Liam and Enzo are in La Fabrica too, meaning his connection to Valdebebas remains strong.
