Recovery from the previous La Liga game
Real Madrid recovers its dynamic duo from midfield this afternoon against Villarreal: Kroos and Modric will once again be part of the starting eleven, something that has not happened since November 10 , at home against Cádiz, in what was the last match of the white team before the break for the World Cup in Qatar. That day Madrid won, 2-1; with difficulties, but he carried out the match and broke a streak of results that was beginning to seriously go awry, since he had gone two days without winning, adding only one point in both.
Both played against Girona last time
One of those punctures was a draw against Girona, in which they both played at the start. But in the defeat against Rayo Kroos was missing and Madrid noticed it. The combination of the German and the Croatian in the white equation is synonymous with victory: with both in the initial team, Madrid have won nine out of ten games (the other is the aforementioned draw against Girona), scoring 27 goals, 2, 7 on average per game and conceding only seven. They are also first and third in the list of passes.
And both, in addition, share another characteristic: they could be playing their last months in Madrid, since both are ending their contracts. The Croatian, at this level, will have an offer to renew at the end of the season, as happened last summer, although so far there have been no contacts in this regard;
The German already has it de facto, since Madrid expects him to renew and continue, but he is considering retiring professionally. What Kroos has made clear is that Madrid will be his last team: either a new contract or retirement.