It seems that Real Madrid’s injury curse will not end this season! After Sergio Ramos, it is now their midfield anchor Toni Kroos who faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a broken bone in his right foot. Although the club could not specify any return date, it looks at least 8-10 weeks.
This is a horrible news for Madrid as the midfielder had become an essential part of Zidane’s gameplay and him missing the Madrid derby against Atletico Madrid on November 15 and the El Clasico on December 3rd could be a huge blow. Although the other option, Luka Modric, has returned to the first team in the win over Leganes. He has also gone on international duty with Croatia.
The 26-year-old German midfielder suffered the injury during Real Madrid’s 2-0 win at home against Legnaes. Interestingly, James Rodriguez and Marcelo, who were earlier out for two and three months respectively, had suffered a similar injury. This indicates that Zidane has only Modric in that position at the moment, who has just returned from injury and keeping him fit for all the games would be difficult.
The same happened with Kroos. The injuries to Luka Modric and Casemiro in recent months has forced Zidane to play Kroos all 90 minutes of Madrid’s last 11 games across three competitions. Fortunately, Casemiro is on the verge of returning too, and although Zidane informed that he is yet to kick a ball in training, his return would lift burdens from Modric’s shoulders in the run of games.
Toni Kroos has signed a new long-term deal, which will keep him with the current Champions League holders until 2022. The 26-year-old midfielder joined from Bayern Munich in 2014. He has scored 4 times and assisting 31 goals in 108 apps so far.
However, although Zidane looks to have Kroos’ replacement in the crucial matches, he is unlikely to find a perfect or a more effective replacement in that central midfield position. Kroos, who could play both as a holding midfielder and defending midfielder, has 6 assists this season from 11 appearances and his delivery from the indirect set pieces could be lethal and often finds the perfect headers in the opponent box.
Madrid are currently on top of La Liga with 27 points from 11 games and are on a winning streak in La Liga, although it could well be interrupted in their next fixture which is a Madrid derby. After a host of injuries in the recent few months, Madrid have a lot of their players returning shortly except Sergio Ramos, Pepe and now Kroos has joined the list.
