First it was Valverde and ten more. Then Kroos and ten more. The German is a fixture in Ancelotti’s eleven. In the strict sense of the word. Since he recovered from pubalgia that delayed his start to the season, Kroos is the only Real Madrid player who has participated in all the matches and in all of them, except for his debut and the first Cup match against Alcoyano, he has been a starter. In Paris, in line with the team, he was not close to his best level. Perhaps a symptom of lack of freshness.
The absence of 8 In the first games of the season, a madridista opened the starting lineup for Valverde, who at the start of the campaign became the coach’s first essential. Kroos not only regained ownership, but ‘inherited’ that status as a key piece that the Uruguayan had enjoyed. The Teuton has 28 consecutive games. He started rolling with 24 minutes against the Sheriff at the Bernabéu and then he has been stringing together one start after another, except for the break he had at El Collao.
La Liga Santander
*Data updated as of February 17, 2022
Ancelotti, who until now has not practiced massive rotations, has been giving occasional breaks to different players. Benzema, Alaba, Modric, Casemiro, Mendy and even Vinicius, although forced to complete the yellow cycle, they have passed through the bench or directly the coach has left them out of some call. It has not been so with Kroos, who has already played 2,279 minutes and is the seventh player on the squad with the most time on the pitchjust above his inseparable partner in midfield Luka Modric.
Minutes of Real Madrid players this season
| Player | Mine. RM | Internac. | all minutes |
| Courteous | 3.090 | 450 | 3.540 |
| Military | 3.084 | 431 | 3.515 |
| Alaba | 2.964 | 457 | 3.421 |
| Asensio | 2.780 | 2.780 | |
| vinicius | 2.762 | 331 | 3.093 |
| Benzema | 2.444 | 477 | 2.921 |
| Kroos | 2.279 | 2.279 | |
| Modric | 2.140 | 318 | 2.458 |
| Mendy | 1.732 | 1.732 | |
| Lucas Vazquez | 1.664 | 1.664 | |
| Valverde | 1.500 | 696 | 2.196 |
| Nacho | 1.472 | 1.472 | |
| Carvajal | 1.418 | 90 | 1.508 |
| Asensio | 1.375 | 1.375 | |
| Rodrygo | 1.369 | 8 | 1.377 |
| Hazard | 874 | 314 | 1.188 |
| camavinga | 859 | 342 | 1.201 |
| Marcelo | 545 | 545 | |
| Jovic | 475 | 257 | 732 |
| Isco | 341 | 341 | |
| Bale | 270 | 232 | 502 |
| Lunin | 210 | 210 | |
| Mariano | 178 | 178 | |
| Ceballos | 57 | 57 | |
| Vallejo | 14 | 14 | |
Four youth players have played this season with the first team: Miguel Gutiérrez (328 minutes), Antonio Blanco (36), Sergio Santos (10) and Peter (9).
In favor of the German plays his resignation to his selection. Kroos, 32, decided last summer to leave the Mannschaft and focus on Real Madrid. In fact, the six teammates who have played more minutes than him add the wear and tear of the international breaks. Modric too. And Valverde is not enough for him. A sign of commitment to the white club and that will allow him, if Ancelotti does not decide to give it to him before, to have a truce on the FIFA dates at the end of March.