As he nears the end of his career, one Real Madrid star has been dubbed one of the five best midfielders in football history.
With a win over Granada on Saturday, Los Blancos can draw level on points with Girona at the top of La Liga.
Meanwhile, Carlo Ancelotti’s team qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League with a 4-2 win over Napoli last week.
New signee Since joining Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, Jude Bellingham has dominated the headlines.
Granada midfielder Gonzalo Villar, on the other hand, had his sights set on Bellingham’s senior colleague Toni Kroos in the run-up to their meeting at the Bernabeu.
Over the last ten seasons, the German has established himself as one of the most significant players on the Spanish team, earning five Champions League titles, three La Liga titles, and one Copa del Rey, among other accolades.
Villar praised Kroos in an interview with Spanish publication AS prior to Saturday’s match.
“For me, Kroos is one of the five best midfielders in history,” he said. “I am still below him. But he is a great player for me.”
Both Villar and Kroos have five goals to their names this season, and the Granada midfielder will be hoping to beat his idol on this occasion.
“We must be an organised team and strong defensively,” Villar said of his team’s preparation for the contest.
“We may not have many opportunities, but we have to be effective and take advantage of them.
“Playing at the Bernabéu is different from anywhere else. For me, this is the stadium that I liked, along with Milan, and it is the place that impressed me the most and the place that I enjoyed playing in the most since I became a professional. It is something amazing, he expressed.”
