Real Madrid: Three Players Who Were Bright Spots In The First Game

2. Toni Kroos

The German International played in a role that he has struggled with quite a few times in the first game back. Manager Zinedine Zidane deployed Kroos and Croatian Luka Modric in a double pivot in a 4-2-1-3 formation with their defensive midfield partner Casemiro on the bench.

Kroos has often struggled when asked to play a more defensive role. But there have been games when he has performed well and put in great performances in the same position. The match vs. Real Sociedad was one such instance.

Kroos, alongside Modric, performed their duties very well in the game. The German Maestro positioned himself perfectly and performed his duties to perfection to ensure that the Sociedad players weren’t able to bypass Madrid’s midfield easily.

These were some of his impressive stats for the day:

While the German performed admirably defensively, he didn’t let his defensive responsibilities bog down his attacking game. Kroos was the player with the most passes in the opposition half(70) and tied as the player with most chances created(3). For a player starting in defensive midfield, that is quite good.

Kroos, as always, controlled the game well till the 60th minute, where he, like most of his teammates, became exhausted. Zidane then brought on Casemiro and Fede Valverde for Martin Ødegaard and Luka Modric, pushing Kroos higher up the pitch to free him.

All in all, this was a good performance from the Maestro, and it looks like he’ll continue in the same form as he was in 2019/20.