World Cup winner Toni Kroos seems to be a permanent fixture in the Champions League semi-final. Now for the fifth consecutive year, the Germany national is in finds himself in the last four of Europe’s premier competition. Naturally, he will be hoping his Real Madrid side can support their bid for a spot in the final when they face Manchester City away on Tuesday evening (20:45 CEST).
Real coach Zinedine Zidane will look to build around his German midfielder at the City of Manchester stadium. And with good reason too. The 1998 World Cup winner has a lot of faith in the 2014 winner, who operates as the ball-playing midfielder in the Madrid. Real’s no.8 has made more passes than any player from the remaining four teams in the competition. In nine appearances, Kroos has successfully completed 759 of 801 passes – an incredible 95% pass completion rate.
Zidane: "It’s important that Kroos defends well."
But the 26-year-old won’t just be responsible for build-up play Manchester. In the 2-0 shock away defeat to VfL Wolfsburg in the quarterfinals, Real’s defensive weaknesses were starkly exposed. Coming up against the likes of Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne, things certainly won’t get any easier against Man City, and the record ten-time winners will have to concentrate their efforts on preventing City’s creative attackers from finding their rhythm.
Zidane emphasised this ahead of the tonight’s first leg: “Kroos has the quality to do so much in the attack,” said the Real coach. “But it is also important that he defends well. In games like this it is important that he tries to be strong defensively, otherwise we will suffer.”
Kroos wants to experience playing in a final victory
Kroos is more than familiar with this stage of the competition, having reached the last four in each of the last five seasons with both Real and FC Bayern München. Twice with the Bavarian club, the Germany international went one step further to reach the final. First the heartbreaking ‘home’ defeat against Chelsea in 2012, and then the 2013 win over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. Kroos, however, did not feature in the all-German final, after an injury kept him out of the final stages of the treble winning season.
The longing to reach the final, to win and to enjoy the occasion on the pitch rather than in the stands, is therefore extra special for Toni Kroos. Real have won the famous trophy ten times and are just three steps away from an eleventh. “The main goal is to win the competition, from the very start,” stated Kroos confidently a while back. “When we play in a competition, we want to win it.”
World Cup winner Toni Kroos seems to be a permanent fixture in the Champions League semi-final. Now for the fifth consecutive year, the Germany national is in finds himself in the last four of Europe’s premier competition. Naturally, he will be hoping his Real Madrid side can support their bid for a spot in the final when they face Manchester City away on Tuesday evening (20:45 CEST).
Real coach Zinedine Zidane will look to build around his German midfielder at the City of Manchester stadium. And with good reason too. The 1998 World Cup winner has a lot of faith in the 2014 winner, who operates as the ball-playing midfielder in the Madrid. Real’s no.8 has made more passes than any player from the remaining four teams in the competition. In nine appearances, Kroos has successfully completed 759 of 801 passes – an incredible 95% pass completion rate.
Zidane: "It’s important that Kroos defends well."
But the 26-year-old won’t just be responsible for build-up play Manchester. In the 2-0 shock away defeat to VfL Wolfsburg in the quarterfinals, Real’s defensive weaknesses were starkly exposed. Coming up against the likes of Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne, things certainly won’t get any easier against Man City, and the record ten-time winners will have to concentrate their efforts on preventing City’s creative attackers from finding their rhythm.
Zidane emphasised this ahead of the tonight’s first leg: “Kroos has the quality to do so much in the attack,” said the Real coach. “But it is also important that he defends well. In games like this it is important that he tries to be strong defensively, otherwise we will suffer.”
Kroos wants to experience playing in a final victory
Kroos is more than familiar with this stage of the competition, having reached the last four in each of the last five seasons with both Real and FC Bayern München. Twice with the Bavarian club, the Germany international went one step further to reach the final. First the heartbreaking ‘home’ defeat against Chelsea in 2012, and then the 2013 win over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. Kroos, however, did not feature in the all-German final, after an injury kept him out of the final stages of the treble winning season.
The longing to reach the final, to win and to enjoy the occasion on the pitch rather than in the stands, is therefore extra special for Toni Kroos. Real have won the famous trophy ten times and are just three steps away from an eleventh. “The main goal is to win the competition, from the very start,” stated Kroos confidently a while back. “When we play in a competition, we want to win it.”
