Real Madrid icon Toni Kroos has moved to launch a surprise defence of Barcelona, following this past weekend’s El Clásico.
Specifically, the German has highlighted the absence of a number of the Blaugrana’s key players as having had a major impact on the clash.
Speaking during the latest episode of his personal podcast, Einfach mal Luppen, ex-midfielder Kroos explained:
“To be fair, Barcelona arrived exhausted: from the goalkeeper to the coach, who wasn’t even on the bench. They missed Raphinha, Dani Olmo, and Lewandowski, and that makes a big difference in a match of this caliber. I’m sure they’ll improve later on.”
Alongside the trio highlighted by Kroos, Barca also made the trip to the Santiago Bernabéu unable to call upon any of Gavi, Andreas Christensen, Joan García, or Marc-André ter Stegen.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, welcomed several important players back into the matchday fold, with all of Dean Huijsen, Dani Carvajal, Dani Ceballos and Trent Alexander-Arnold having returned to either starting duties or the bench.
Conor Laird – GSFN
