‘I played through pain for six months’

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos is happy to make his return for the Spanish club after months on the sidelines. The German revealed that he spent several months playing through pain.

Kroos has not played a competitive match since the end of Germany’s Euro 2020 campaign in June as he has been recovering from a groin problem.

He disclosed that he had been suffering for months when playing for Madrid and Germany and needed medication to deal with the pain.

“I have not played in three months, the last game was on June 29, at the European Championship, so I have to gain a little rhythm. But the most important thing is that it doesn’t bother me much,” Kroos told Goal after his third training session with Madrid.

“I started feeling discomfort in March or so and knew there was something in my groin. From there I knew that if I continued playing I would get to the point of not being able to anymore, but it was very difficult to stop because I had to play the quarter-finals and the semi-finals of the Champions League, then the European Championship.

“It was very difficult for me to stop because of this. Then I told myself that I was going on vacation, to see if in those three weeks it would improve with rest and all that. Later, when I returned to training in Madrid, I tried and saw that I had not improved a bit and that I had to stop.”

He added: “What we did was a lot of work to find out exactly what was there. It was not an option to have an operation or something like that, I have not thought about this because I always prefer, if there is no other way, to do it with conservative treatment, which has always helped me.

“This has lasted a little longer, it’s true, but I have played six months with pain, or not with pain but with a lot of pills and between games with a lot of pain. I knew it would last a little longer now.”

Madrid’s next game is against Moldovan side Sheriff in the Champions League on Tuesday, and Kroos says he is ready to return to the squad for the clash at the Santiago Bernabeu, but the decision is up to coach Carlo Ancelotti.

“I feel prepared and I think I will be in the squad,” he said. “From there we will see what is best, how we can do it.

“Tomorrow I will speak with Ancelotti and, if he considers it risky and prefers to wait, I will listen to him and we will analyse it.”