Toni Kroos, the German midfielder of Real Madrid, recalled the feat achieved in the last Champions League, in which he thought he did not have “a team to win the title”, but on the basis of the comebacks back to the Santiago Bernabéu he acknowledged that past from being “almost dead” to signing up for a business.
“I can’t explain it either,” he confessed in an interview with Jorge Valdano. “The laps at the Bernabéu affect your opponents a lot, you can be almost dead and an action changes your confidence, that of your rival and the atmosphere in the stadium. I have never seen such a thing and it has been three times.”
“I saw how very difficult to win the Champions League, arriving in the quarter-finals we could say we did well. We didn’t have a team to win it, Sergio Ramos left, Mbappé’s salary did not come out, which gave us a quality plus. I wasn’t sure if I had a team to win the Champions League, the draw pits you against the best teams in Europe and I thought every day was more difficult. It amazes me how complicated situations we came out of and in the end we deserved to win, “he analyzed.
Kroos did not hesitate to choose between the five Champions Cups he won in his career and the World Cup with Germany. “I would stay with the five European Cups, I like perseverance and winning five in eight years is very special,” he told ‘Universo Valdano’.
The German midfielder has left champions of his football philosophy and his passion for ball possession. “If they give me the chance to touch the ball forty times and score a goal or touch it a hundred times, I prefer a hundred and help build my team’s game well.”
“Having the ball is much better than chasing it. I feel more comfortable having it. With Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane the idea has changed a bit. Today we have more possession than nine years ago, but we are also capable in moments of a game to accept that we will not have the ball to counterattacks “, he analyzed.
Before coming to Real Madrid, Madrid’s power suffered in the ranks of Bayern Munich. “I remember in 2013 when I faced Carlo’s Madrid with Bayern Munich, with Pep Guardiola as manager. It was a successful football but with setbacks. We had 80% possession at the Bernabéu and we lost 1- 0 after losing 0-4 at home. That has changed now with many players wanting the ball and not just running. I tried to change the idea. “
He singled out Jupp Heynckes as the most decisive manager of his career. “He saw the talent I had from day one but he made me work to help in the defensive phase. He was the most important coach, the first to trust me.”
And he recalled the moment he decided to change Bayern for Real Madrid. Guardiola fought until the last day to make me stay, I really enjoyed him, he improved me a lot but I had to decide on a contract for another five years and he is one who leaves suddenly. It was a decision of many years that I made it easier to leave, they didn’t want to pay what I wanted and I decided to leave.
“I arrived at Real Madrid and I didn’t know what was going to happen, it was an important decision for the club, the biggest in the world, also for leaving my country for the first time. You have to adapt to the club and to life in another. Country I was 24 and I was very happy with how they received it. I only trained twice and was already a Super Cup starter “, he recalled at the beginning of a career in white that has already made him a legendary midfielder in the history of the Madrid.
EFE
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