Toni Kroos and Real Madrid stay on FC Barcelona’s heels in the race for the Spanish football championship.
The Champions League winner for the German midfield strategist won 2-0 (0-0) against FC Valencia on Thursday. With 45 points, Real are five points behind the Catalan leaders in second place.
Marco Asensio (52nd) and Vinicius Junior (54th) shot Los Blancos to their 14th win of the season in La Liga. Valencia’s Gabriel Paulista (72nd) saw the red card in the second round for a rough game. While 2014 world champion Kroos was substituted after 66 minutes, national defender Antonio Rüdiger played 90 minutes.