Champions League Substitute appearance changed the game

Madrid convinced they'll make history

It's almost hard to believe that Real Madrid once needed convincing of Casemiro's abilities, given how much balance the anchor man has given to a team that was crying out for his input, but the man himself remembers the moment he broke through with great fondness.

In the 2013/14 season, Casemiro was a mere squad member who'd recently arrived from Sao Paulo and was thrown on for the last 17 minutes as Los Blancos clung onto a thin lead over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Facing up to Marco Reus, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Robert Lewandowski & Co. was a big chance gobbled up by the Brazilian, who was instrumental in stemming the flow of BVB attacks, the game finishing 2-0 to the hosts for a 4-3 Real win on aggregate, going on to lift La Decima just weeks later.

"I always say that the Dortmund game changed my life," Casemiro reminisces.

"The feeling that I had that night against Borussia was that in those 17 minutes I had to prove myself to all of Real Madrid.

"I knew it was going to be a special game, I said to myself 'Casemiro, you cannot miss out on this opportunity'."

Having returned from injury, it's the German side back on the midfielder's radar this Wednesday with Los Blancos knowing that a win will secure them top spot in Group F.