This season at Real Madrid there may be a before and after the Champions League quarter-final first leg in London. Beyond the 3-0 defeat against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, the biggest concern in Madrid is the poor image, the sloppiness, the lack of commitment, the poor play up front and the terrible defense at the back… A combination of situations that are focused on coach Carlo Ancelotti, whose days seem to be numbered.
Precisely after the defeat at the Emirates, Ancelotti said that qualifying was very difficult. The three-goal difference seems like a big difference for a magical night at the White Fiefdom, but they hope to turn around a tie that seems lost.
“We have to look ahead, make sacrifices, and look together at what we can do”. ‘We have to do everything possible to turn it around’. Coming back is ‘very complicated but we are going to try from the first minute to the last’.
Toni Kroos supporting Real Madrid
A miracle and a magical night is what Real Madrid will be looking for and they will have a secret weapon. The Whites will ‘sign up’ Toni Kroos to encourage his former teammates in the difficult, but not impossible, task ahead of them.
Real Madrid has invited Toni Kroos to the second leg, to the box. In addition, the German could come to the Bernabéu early enough to visit the players and give them that last dose of energy before the game.
The Kroos void
Toni Kroos is a standard bearer for Real Madrid and a reference point on the pitch. He was the compass of Real Madrid and since his decision to retire a great void has been left at the club that, in part, has been filled by Dani Ceballos and Luka Modric. The former was doing really well before his injury and it is hoped that he will be back for the second leg. On the other hand, Modric’s age, and despite his great performance, seems to be influencing Ancelotti, who is limiting the Croatian’s playing time.
Zubimendi and Wirtz, the great desires
Improving the performance of the midfield is Real Madrid’s desire for the summer market. The Whites have set their sights on the Txuriurdin player Martín Zubimendi, who they see as the perfect replacement for Kroos. The biggest obstacle to his signing is the competition from Arsenal and the fact that Real will not accept less than the release clause of 60 million euros.
Florian Wirtz has been one of Real Madrid’s main targets for several months now. The president of the white club, Florentino Pérez, sees the German as one of those signings that raise the level of a team, but the young midfielder is not yet sure about taking the step up to LaLiga. Bayer Leverkusen is ready to offer him a new contract that would tie him down until 2028 with an exit clause that would allow him to leave in 2026 for around 100 million euros.
Joey Veerman enters the scene
Another option to be the new Toni Kroos could be Joey Veerman. The PSV player fits perfectly into the role that Toni Kroos played as the team’s playmaker in recent years. Veerman is a 26-year-old midfielder of Dutch origin who has already been approached by Real Madrid last summer.
The rumors linking him to the club presided over by Florentino Pérez were welcomed at the time. “I could be happy about the fact that they are putting me in Madrid, but I feel uncomfortable because it’s a lie,” he said in June 2024 in an interview with the newspaper De Telegraaf.