Real Madrid: Ranking the top five players of April 2021

4. CM Toni Kroos

In a normal month, Casemiro would have been much higher on the list, but this is Real Madrid and this was a month with a Clasico and three major Champions League fixtures. Therefore, competition was stiff. And although Toni Kroos was hobbled by injuries/fatigue to close the month, he still managed to make a profound impact on the team.

Kroos’ performance against Liverpool in the first leg of the quarterfinals won’t be forgotten any time soon. The German international created two goals with his passes from deep, including a picture-perfect first ball over the top for Vinicius Junior.

All season long, Kroos has been putting up jaw-dropping passing numbers. He hasn’t had many goals, but he did chip in an important one that proved to be an eventual winner, scoring off a deflected free kick in El Clasico.

Kroos completed 90 percent of his passes in three matches in April. And although he was playing through an injury against Chelsea and clearly impacted negatively, Kroos was actually quite good in helping Real keep the Blues to one goal, especially in the second half. He had four tackles and two interceptions, just as he had four tackles in an important clean sheet against Liverpool. Sometimes, we take for granted Kroos’ ability to stabilize the defense when the team needs him to help out.