Racing Santander midfielder names Real Madrid’s Bernardo Silva as his role model ahead of La Liga clash: ‘A great player’

Racing Santander midfielder names Real Madrid’s Bernardo Silva as his role model ahead of La Liga clash: ‘A great player’ Real Madrid are set to face Racing Santander in La Liga on Sunday as they look to extend their five-game winning streak. Racing will welcome Los Blancos to El Sardinero , hoping to produce one of the biggest upsets of the La Liga season. The newly-promoted Spanish first-division club have a clear style of football that they try to play irrespective of the opposition. Speaking to Radio MARCA , Almeida discussed Madrid’s quality and Mourinho’s influence. Almeida admits Real Madrid surprised him against Barcelona The midfielder expressed his surprise at last weekend’s Clasico and how it played out on the pitch. “I expected Barcelona, playing at home, to be more dominant,” Almeida admitted when discussing Sunday’s 2-1 victory at Spotify Camp Nou . Andre Almeida looking forward to Real Madrid clash. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images) “Real Madrid surprised me a lot,” he added. Almeida credited much of Madrid’s success to Jose Mourinho, who has improved the team’s unity and competitiveness . “Mourinho always gets the blood pumping in his players,” Almeida remarked, highlighting his compatriot’s ability to motivate a dressing room. However, the Racing star made it clear that Madrid’s reputation would not affect his team’s mentality. “Everyone at Real Madrid is a good player, but I’m not afraid of anyone,” he declared. “It’s eleven men against eleven men, and anything can happen. I’m confident we can win.” Racing midfielder speaks about his role model Almeida believes Racing’s possession-based football could cause problems for Mourinho’s side. “I think we have a style of play that could work well against Real Madrid. If we have the ball, we can hurt them,” he explained. Bernardo Silva is a role model for Andre Almeida. (Picture credit: Real Madrid website) He also singled out two Madrid players for praise. Even though Vinicius Jr. is not available for Sunday’s clash, Almeida spoke highly of him. “When Vinicius is motivated, he’s one of the best in the world,” Almeida said. The Brazilian is serving a four-match suspension after his red card against Villarreal and still has two more games to go. The Racing midfielder then spoke about Bernardo Silva, a player he considers his role model. “He’s a great player, with tremendous quality. He’s an example for me,” Almeida concluded. The midfielder believes Racing’s possession-heavy system could help them pose a challenge to Madrid. However, that is exactly the kind of game plan against which Mourinho’s teams tend to thrive, especially in transition. Mourinho has dangerous counter-attacking players like Kylian Mbappe and Yan Diomande, with the likes of Arda Guler providing the passes. Having beaten Barcelona, Los Blancos will be keen to keep up the momentum, and it remains to be seen how they fare against Racing Santander.