Real Madrid: 3 players who must step up with Toni Kroos injured

Real Madrid won’t have center midfielder Toni Kroos available this week, so these three players must step up.

There might not be a more consistent player in La Liga than Real Madrid center midfielder Toni Kroos. He almost never has a bad game, he completed over 93 percent of his passes last season (via WhoScored.com), and he is a quiet leader in the locker room for Los Blancos.

But Kroos won’t be available this week due to a hip injury, meaning he will miss Wednesday’s match against Real Valladolid and Sunday’s match against Levante.

So here are three players who must step up for the German international.

Real Madrid CM Luka Modric

The first name on the list is center midfielder Luka Modric, who has enjoyed an unsurprisingly brilliant start to the 2020-2021 season. One of the heroes down the stretch of last season’s title-winning campaign, Modric played well in the opener in a double-pivot alongside Toni Kroos, bossing the Real Sociedad midfield.

On Matchday 3, Modric was subbed into the game late in the first half for the injured Kroos, and he and fellow substitute Isco changed the game. Modric was the workhorse again, carrying the ball and covering any gaps defensively.

As good as it gets, Modric is showing that age is just a number. He does a little bit of everything for the Real Madrid midfield, and he’ll be the player leaned on the most with Kroos out this week.