Real Madrid: Grading the midfielders from the 2020-2021 season

The midfield is perhaps the greatest strength that Real Madrid have. Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, and Casemiro have been three of the best players in the world over the past several years, setting a new benchmark in the middle of the park as a trio for Los Blancos.

All three of them were vital in Real staying competitive this season despite a myriad of injuries and a lack of incoming upgrades on the transfer market. But they weren’t the only midfielders who impressed Madridistas this season.

Let’s grade every midfielder on Real Madrid who played for the first team in 2020-2021.

CM Toni Kroos

We begin with Toni Kroos, who was on the list of Player of the Season candidates for Real Madrid. The German international was spectacular for the entirety of the campaign, producing the finest passing numbers in European football.

In addition to his 3 goals and team-high 10 assists, Kroos also led Los Blancos with 2.4 key passes per game, according to WhoScored.com. He attempted 72.2 passes per game, including a team-high 8.2 long ball per contest. But despite all of his shot-creating passes and difficult attempts from distance, Kroos still managed to complete a whopping 93.6 percent of his passes to lead the team.

Additionally, Kroos helped out defensively. He stepped up on defense in some big games and finished the LaLiga season with 1.5 tackles per game. While Kroos can hardly be called a defensive presence, he did his job as best as he could during the grind of the season.

Kroos was easily one of the best midfielders in the world this past year. He should have had more assists, but the forwards were too wasteful. Simply put, Kroos had a season for the ages.

Rating: 9.5