Real Madrid: Toni Kroos out two weeks with a knee injury
By Ben Sundock
![14th February 2018, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain; UEFA Champions League football, round of 16, first leg, Real Madrid versus PSG; Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) drives forward on the ball (Photo by Shot for Press/Action Plus via Getty Images) 14th February 2018, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain; UEFA Champions League football, round of 16, first leg, Real Madrid versus PSG; Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) drives forward on the ball (Photo by Shot for Press/Action Plus via Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/c8941012e073bf7759083555b5399ede4df7a74570dd22f9e2af4e68394ffa60.jpg)
Real Madrid will be without key midfielder Toni Kroos for two weeks after the German international picked up a knock in the team’s 3-1 win over PSG Wednesday. Here is the full update.
It is a shame that after one of his best games of the season, Toni Kroos will be sidelined for two weeks.
In the win over PSG, the midfielder was vital to Real Madrid’s midfield superiority and in helping to build up attack after attack. Kroos completed 98.5% of his 65 passes and made three key passes in the match.
The club released an official report on the midfielder’s status early Friday stating the following:
“Following tests carried out on Toni Kroos by the Sanitas Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a sprained to the exterior lateral ligament in the left knee. His recovery will continue to be assessed”
While the news is disappointing to hear, it could be much worse. We saw Dani Ceballos sidelined with a sprained ankle for well over two weeks and Jesús Vallejo has already been out for over a month with a pulled leg muscle.
There are no details as to when exactly the injury occurred as Toni managed to play the full 90 minutes covering a stunning 13 kilometers on Wednesday according to MARCA.
Kroos will be out of the lineup until the beginning of March, but this does not mean he will miss the second leg match against the Parisians on March 6th. All indications point to the German returning to training and being eligible to play in the all-important return leg.
Next: Three takeaways from Real Madrid’s 3-1 win against PSG
Toni will miss Real’s match against Real Betis on Sunday and could potentially miss the next three or four matches (Leganes, Deportivo Alaves, Espanyol, and Getafe).
With Kroos out, expect Zinedine Zidane to look to Mateo Kovacic to fill in for the time being. Kova has the possession skills necessary to be in the starting XI and while his passing is very good, it is not to the quality of Kroos.
We will continue to monitor Toni Kroos’ status and keep you up to date on everything going on.