Germany World Cup winner Toni Kroos gave an intelligent, almost flawless performance as his Real Madrid side won the first-leg of their Champions League semi-final against city rivals Atlético Madrid 3-0 on Tuesday night. The defending champions laid down a marker and Kroos, as ever, pulled the strings in Real’s midfield, giving a passing masterclass. The 27-year-old, however, may not receive as much recognition, given the performance of Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored all three goals in Real’s win.
“Toni Kroos is the heart of Real Madrid,” said former world goalkeeper of the year Oliver Kahn whilst covering the game as a pundit for ZDF. “He speeds the game up, slows it down, plays decisive passes, is always available to receive the ball and makes very few mistakes with his passing. He is a quiet, stabilizing part of the Real Madrid team.”
Kroos: “3-0 is only half the job”
The brilliance of the German’s performance is backed up by the stats: Kroos touched the ball 123 times, won an impressive 86% of his duels and had a pass completion rate of of 96%. „Room for improvement” joked the midfield man. Another statistic highlighs the worth of Kroos to Rea: his teammates passed to him 85 times in the match, more than any other Real Madrid player received the ball. Every seventh successful pass that Real played landed at the feet of Toni Kroos.
“For me it’s important that I have a big influence on the team, that I help the team and that the manager believes in me,” said Kroos. “Right now all three of those things are happening and I’m happy about that.” The 3-0 win was “a nice result”, according to the former Bayern Munich man, but “only half the job, we’ve had bad experiences at Atlético in the past.” He also said that Real, “played cleverly, had a good game plan from the coach and implemented it well.”
That was certainly the case for Kroos – and also for Ronaldo. “You have to say he always pops up when you need him, said Kroos on the Portuguese who notched his 101st, 102nd and 103rd Champions League goals on Tuesday night. “He’s incredibly important to us and is always hungry for goals. You don’t have those sorts of stats if you’re not.”
Germany World Cup winner Toni Kroos gave an intelligent, almost flawless performance as his Real Madrid side won the first-leg of their Champions League semi-final against city rivals Atlético Madrid 3-0 on Tuesday night. The defending champions laid down a marker and Kroos, as ever, pulled the strings in Real’s midfield, giving a passing masterclass. The 27-year-old, however, may not receive as much recognition, given the performance of Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored all three goals in Real’s win.
“Toni Kroos is the heart of Real Madrid,” said former world goalkeeper of the year Oliver Kahn whilst covering the game as a pundit for ZDF. “He speeds the game up, slows it down, plays decisive passes, is always available to receive the ball and makes very few mistakes with his passing. He is a quiet, stabilizing part of the Real Madrid team.”
Kroos: “3-0 is only half the job”
The brilliance of the German’s performance is backed up by the stats: Kroos touched the ball 123 times, won an impressive 86% of his duels and had a pass completion rate of of 96%. „Room for improvement” joked the midfield man. Another statistic highlighs the worth of Kroos to Rea: his teammates passed to him 85 times in the match, more than any other Real Madrid player received the ball. Every seventh successful pass that Real played landed at the feet of Toni Kroos.
“For me it’s important that I have a big influence on the team, that I help the team and that the manager believes in me,” said Kroos. “Right now all three of those things are happening and I’m happy about that.” The 3-0 win was “a nice result”, according to the former Bayern Munich man, but “only half the job, we’ve had bad experiences at Atlético in the past.” He also said that Real, “played cleverly, had a good game plan from the coach and implemented it well.”
That was certainly the case for Kroos – and also for Ronaldo. “You have to say he always pops up when you need him, said Kroos on the Portuguese who notched his 101st, 102nd and 103rd Champions League goals on Tuesday night. “He’s incredibly important to us and is always hungry for goals. You don’t have those sorts of stats if you’re not.”
