Toni Kroos put in a superhuman performance in El Clásico, but he seems to want to call it a career after the season. Will Real persuade him?

The El Clásico Man of the Match was Federico Valverde, but this award could easily go to Toni Kroos. The German midfielder absolutely dominated the midfield and it was thanks to him that Real beat Barcelona 3-1. But this may very well be his last season.

They don’t make footballers like that anymore. Nowadays, we see more and more midfielders – robots who can do everything, who are programmed to keep running at a high tempo for the whole match. It’s just that sometimes the creativity is a little bit lost.

There aren’t many players who have a game mindset like Toni Kroos running around on football lawns anymore. And we can only find one who can adapt to modern fast football despite their speed deficit. Kroos.

The German spielmacher played a perfect game against Barcelona. It was known that whoever had the upper hand in the centre of midfield would control the game. And it was the white side, especially thanks to Kroos.

When Real’s midfielders won the ball, they immediately looked for the spread strikers behind the Barcelona defence and that made Real constantly dangerous. On the other side, the Blaugranas midfielders didn’t dare to put a cross behind the defence, although it was offered several times, preferring to jam the ball and turn it sometimes to the stoppers, making the Blaugranas’ play very slow.

The computer in the head

But back to Kroos. The Real midfielder has a computer in his head. He knows exactly when to speed up the game and when to slow it down, when he can afford to make a risky pass and when to stop the duel in order for the team to score. Just like in the first half against Barcelona.

Busquets Kroos was pulling the jersey in the half, most players would probably have fallen over and been happy for a yellow for the opposition. But Kroos knew that a foul in the half wouldn’t solve anything, so he tried to settle the fight and sent a perfect perpendicular pass to Vinícius, who headed it alone on goal. He only hit ter Stegen, but Benzema headed the ball into the net from the rebound. “That’s your goal!” yelled Modric in joy at Kroos.

Kroos, in addition to coming out of difficult situations perfectly and setting up fast breaks, also helped the team defensively. He won 8 out of 13 duels and took the ball away from the opponent six times, and was fouled three times.

His perfect performance must have been appreciated by the Barcelona fans. “I’ve been a Barcelona fan for about 11 years, but Kroos’ performance… Really the best performance from a midfielder I’ve ever seen in a game against us,” wrote a Barcelona fan on Twitter.

Last season, it looked like Kroos’ performances were going downhill, some fans didn’t want to see him in the lineup anymore, but the German footballer has picked himself up again and is playing some great football.

The end of his career?

Only in Madrid, they’re worried. Kroos let it be known three years ago that he definitely doesn’t want to play football as long as he can, he would like to end his career early and he has marked 33 as the cut-off age. Kroos will celebrate his Christmastime in January and his contract expires at the end of the season…

Of course, Real Madrid are trying their best to persuade Kroos to play at least one more season, but according to the latest information from leading Spanish insiders and media, the feeling in the Valdebebas offices is that Kroos is closer to quitting than extending his contract.

President Florentino Pérez is hoping that the form of life Kroos has been in since the start of the season will not let him end his rich career and keep the fans happy for at least one more season. The retirement of the brilliant midfielder would mark the end of the last great man.

Source: Real Madrid, Sofa Score, Twitter