CM Toni Kroos
Thibaut Courtois is in excellent form for Real Madrid, but Los Blancos’ most in-form player isn’t the Belgian goalkeeper. No, it is the German midfielder Toni Kroos, who is averaging a league-leading 2.6 key passes per game and is currently riding a streak of five straight matches with at least three key passes. In that time span, Kroos is averaging 4.2 key passes per game!
Kroos has one goal and five assists in his last five, and what’s wild is that he should really have more assists. It’s just that Marco Asensio and some of the other Real Madrid attacking players have squandered those opportunities with indecisiveness or downright poor finishing.
We have seen Kroos control so many games this season, and it is not a stretch to call him the best midfielder in the world. Now, there is fierce competition from Kevin de Bruyne, teammate Luka Modric, and more, but Kroos, with his passing accuracy and chance-creation, is right up there with the best of them. And he has not neglected his defensive duties either, as evidenced by his four tackles at Valladolid.
Real Madrid have a few major keys against Atalanta, and one of the biggest is controlling the midfield. So it’s a damn good thing they have the legendary trio of Kroos, Modric, and Casemiro. Of those three, Kroos is the one who sets the tone and finds the solutions, seeing the whole pitch tactically and executing. Prepare for what could be a vintage performance from the 31-year-old on Wednesday night. He might be the best player on the team right now.