Together since the summer of 2014, the Croatian and the German form a unique pairing in midfield.

“They can’t play together anymore.” A smile crossed Toni Kroos’s face when he responded last season to a refrain that appears every time Madrid has a bad game. “It is something that is said many times, but…”. Without a smile and with a serious face, Luka Modric did not hide at Anfield that this theory bothers him: “It bothers me, because it seems that now Toni and I cannot play together.” The reality is that for his coach there is no such debate. “They are untouchable,” he said last season. And few doubt that, being well, they will continue to be and that Ancelotti’s job is to find a way to fit into the eleven so much potential in his midfield.

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The Modric-Kroos couple is a heritage in the history of Real Madrid and universal football. Their company, already mythical and with 308 shared official matches in Madrid, was born on August 25, 2014, on the first day of the League: 2-0 against Córdoba. Between the return of the World Cup won by Germany in Brazil and some discomfort from the Croatian, Ancelotti could not count on both at the same time during the preseason.

That match against Córdoba led by Chapi Ferrer, and with Gil Manzano as referee, is the starting point for the most successful midfielder pairing in Europe since they formed. Now they begin what will be their tenth season together. On this route, in which four Champions Leagues appear and a total of 20 titles together, German and Croatian have been sharing travel companions, with Casemiro as the most important.

Today they are surrounded by young people, by kids who will be next to two players who have been their role models. And against rivals who play in teams in which there is no society that can be compared to the one formed by the German and the Croatian on tour, titles and football in their boots.