On Tuesday, Joachim Löw freed Toni Kroos from Germany’s forthcoming friendly clash against the USA (Cologne, June 10) and the Euro 2016 qualifying match against Gibraltar, which takes place three days later. The German national team coach left him out of his squad (he also did the same with the Bayern duo of Müller and Neuer) to give him a break.

“I could always count on Thomas (Müller) and Toni (Kroos) in the past. Both made great merits for the national team. They deserve this break. I also took this decision with one eye on next season, which will finish with the European Championship in France," said Löw.

Therefore, Kroos will enjoy 49 days of holiday (like nine other Madrid players: Benzema, Jesé, Modric, Illarramendi, Lucas Silva, Nacho, Arbeloa, Pacheco and Pepe, if he does not recover from his injury). It's a break that he was crying out for, because the season that has just finished has been the most demanding of his career. He accumulated 5,191 minutes of action between Real Madrid (4,590 minutes – his previous record of 3,433 minutes was set in 2011-12) and the national team (601 minutes). At Real Madrid, only Cristiano Ronaldo featured more often than the German did (4,638 minutes).

Kroos (25 years) only missed four of Madrid’s 59 minutes in 2014-15 (the two Copa clashes against Cornellà, one against Levante as he was rested, and another due to suspension). He completed 86% of Madrid’s total minutes (he started 54 of his 55 outings). In addition to that staggering quantity of first-team minutes, the German also had to adapt to a new position. He landed in Madrid with the profile of an attacking midfielder that constructed the play and it came to him with ease. But after the departure of Xabi Alonso, Ancelotti asked him to be the anchor of the team, a position which gave rise to a lot more wear and tear, and he adapted in record time (his pass completion rate of 93% is higher than any of his Madrid team-mates). But in the final stretch of the season the effort caught up with him and he ended up exhausted. Therefore Löw freed him yesterday (Tuesday). He doesn’t want to burn him out any more. He prefers to allow him to rest well so that he does not accumulate more fatigue ahead of next season, where the coach has Euro 2016 marked in red on his calendar.

The team. Kroos will have 49 days off. The days of rest for the other players in the squad will depend on their international commitments: Cristiano and Coentrao will have 39 days (if called up by Portugal); Casillas, Ramos, Isco, Carvajal and Bale will enjoy 37 days; Varane will have 35 days; Keylor Navas could have 30 days or less (if he goes to the CONCACAF Gold Cup) and Marcelo and James will have 20 days or less as they are both pencilled in to take part in the Copa América.