Toni Kroos, often called the German sniper, had been the dictator of Real Madrid‘s midfield, for years, enjoying tremendous success all through.
He was part of the three-peat UCL wins from 2016-2018, and also in his last season as a professional footballer in 2024, he ended up winning the Champions League, for a record 6th time in his career, fifth time in Whites.
Without his presence, Real Madrid’s midfield is heartless, going trophyless in the previous season, and currently on a poor, unstable position.
Yet, even Toni Kroos was not exempted from the criticism as he recently revealed how he had endured the rage of Real Madrid fans.
Toni Kroos, had his say over the unruly booing of Vinicius Junior, during their home game against Levante on Saturday.
A reaction for the sudden departure of Xabi Alonso, due to conflicts inside the dressing room and lack of authority, the fans came into action to show their disappointment, as Vinicius was considered one of the players responsible for the unrest within the team.
Real Madrid fans booed every single player with loudest boos for Vinicius, Bellingham and Valverde pic.twitter.com/3ClpU35SZl
— Troll Football Media (@TrollFootball2) January 17, 2026
In his recent podcast channel Einfach mal Luppen, Toni Kroos had justified or stood in perception of taking the boos as a positive sign.
He indicated that , booing at the Santiago Bernabeu is a credit to a great player. He had said,
“A player who hasn’t been booed at the Bernabéu isn’t a great player. You could say this is Real Madrid, probably not at its best. But it pretty much describes what it means to be here, to sign here, whether with the press or the fans, they rarely criticize smaller players”.
He also mentioned an incident that happened to him in similar fashion, when Real Madrid shockingly lost 4-1 to Ajax in the second leg of RO16 in Champions League, after an away win in the first leg in 2019.
🗣️ Toni Kroos: “A player who hasn't been booed at the Bernabéu isn't a great player.
— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) January 21, 2026
After the 4-1 defeat vs Ajax, I also felt some boos directed at me.” pic.twitter.com/uQwRlGlmF4
Indeed Kroos was right about his words, as this is not the first time a Real Madrid player is receiving boos from home crowd.
This has been a tradition for ages with big names starting from Alfred Di stefano to most recently Gareth Bale.
Gareth Bale was booed for prioritizing national duties and avoiding Madrid’s matches citing injuries, back in 2022.
Amidst the breaks, he did not compromise on his salary cap and was labelled a parasite by the Spanish media. On his return to the pitch for the club after 654 days, Bale was loudly Booed by the home fans
Alfredo Di Stefano, was once booed for appearing in a Christmas advertisement that promoted ladies’s stockings.
Even the club’s greatest goalscorer, Cristiano Ronaldo was not Exempted from the list.
During a game against Celta Vigo in 2016, he was booed by the crowd for misplacing a pass. But soon, the Portugese legend, replied with a Poker, shutting every mouth that whistled at him.
Santiago Bernabeu’s atmosphere is hostile and aggressive in nature, when they don’t recognize full commitment. As Kroos said, when Real Madrid fans boo, it is a reason for players to push themselves up.
