Zidane is without his indispensable player



If there's one player that Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane could do without losing to injury, it is Toni Kroos. The midfielder's metatarsal fracture, which will rule him out of action for the rest of 2016, is a huge blow to the Frenchman because of the influence of the German. Kroos is the player who has covered the most distance for Los Blancos this season, has the highest pass completion success and also the most assists in the team. Besides that, he is the player that has played the most minutes (1391), having participated in 16 of the 17 matches played. Only the European Super Cup final against Sevilla was missed and that was because those internationals that played in the latter stages of Euro 2016 were given longer to recover than their counterparts.
Such is Kroos' importance that Zidane did not even give him any rest in the Copa del Rey game against Cultural Leonesa, the German playing the full 90 minutes. Real Sociedad, Sporting and Espanyol are the only three matches that the midfielder hasn't played the entire game. Against the Catalans, Zidane had wanted to rest him and initially left him on the bench, but the untimely injury of Casemiro meant there was no choice but for Kroos to take the Brazilian's place. Since his signing for Real in 2014/15, the player has been key for the team. Key for Ancelotti, for Benitez and now for Zidane. Of the 128 matches played since his arrival, Kroos has participated in 115, which means he has played 90 percent - more than any other player in the squad across that period. Only 13 had been missed to this point and none of them from injury.

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