Real Madrid: Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, the perfect duo

Real Madrid defeated Atalanta in the Champions League without Karim Benzema, as they grinded out a tough 1-0 victory against a team down to 10 men. It was hardly a spellbinding performance by Los Blancos, but the usual two suspects managed to control the pitch and earn more plaudits from Madridistas.

The midfield tandem of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric had four key passes each, according to WhoScored.com, standing out as the top midfielders of the first leg of Champions League action across the Round of 16.

Both men added two tackles to help the team defensively, but it was Kroos who stood out the most as a passer. The German international attempted a jaw-dropping 139 passes, completing 94 percent of them against a highly-organized Atalanta defense. And he even completed 15 of 19 long balls to try and add some field-stretching threat to an otherwise anemic Los Blancos attack.

All season long, Kroos and Modric have been doing this for Real Madrid. They have been pulling the strings and forcing the issue, desperately trying to carve out something despite a myriad of issues up front. Eden Hazard and Rodrygo Goes have been injured for large chunks of time. Benzema is dealing with his second injury. And the likes of Marco Asensio and Mariano Diaz are struggling to offer much of any scoring threat, which was the story again at the Gewiss Stadium.

Real Madrid have the best midfield duo in Europe

Modric and Kroos have a combined 13 goal contributions in La Liga, with Kroos leading all players in the league with 2.6 key passes per game. The Croatian has 1.4 key passes per game to go with 1.9 dribbles completed per game. Defensively, Modric is third behind only Casemiro and Nacho Fernandez with 1.4 interceptions per game, and Kroos is chipping in with 1.6 tackles per match.

I could list so many more statistics about their passing numbers into the final third and penalty area, their pressures in midfield and in the attacking third, and Modric’s ball-carrying. But they will all just repeat what Madridistas already know. Modric and Kroos are two of the best midfielders in European football and have been at that level for the last several years.

Yes, they are on the level of Xavi and Andres Iniesta. No, I do not intend to spend paragraphs comparing the all-time great Barcelona duo, but I do want to make it clear that Kroos and Modric are an all-time great duo of their own and right at that level. To dispute this is to downplay the accomplishments and ignore the elite play we are seeing right before our eyes.

Week after week, Kroos and Modric go underappreciated outside of Real Madrid, because the basic counting stats aren’t there. And why aren’t they there? The failures of the forwards, of course. Kroos and Modric have the thankless task of leading Los Blancos in the Champions League and a La Liga title race with an undermanned, injury-plagued team.

Yet in a season of uncertainty, this midfield duo has been the epitome of class and consistency. Madridistas will never besmirch either player and will sing their highest praises from the rooftops, because they know that all good things have come from these two titans of the midfield.