Real Madrid: Toni Kroos sat down with Mahou to discuss the clash against Paris Saint-Germain
Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos sat down with Mahou to speak about the Round of 16 clash against the Parisians. Kroos gave an insight into Madrid’s approach and his tactics heading into Wednesday’s match.
All quotes were taken directly from the Official Real Madrid website.
In the lead up to matches, players often sit with their coach in the press room to field questions. This time around, fans have an inside scoop and deeper look as to what a player such as Toni Kroos is thinking before such a high stakes game.
Kroos expressed a hint of optimism and expressed how eager he is to play an important role in this fixture. Real Madrid hasn’t been the team that they were last season, but they are not out of contention for the trophy just yet.
🎙💬 @ToniKroos spoke to @futbolmahou about our big upcoming #RMUCL matches against @PSG_English! Watch the full interview! 👇 pic.twitter.com/QwEvE1ijko
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) February 12, 2018
Kroos on the multidimensional PSG
"“We’re not only coming up against three of the best forwards in the world, we’ll face one of the best goalkeepers, four of the best defences, three of the best midfielders and three of the best forwards.”“They’re a good team, difficult, but not only because of their forwards, of course they are very good, fast and score lots of goals, but we have to concentrate on our game, as well as the opponent, because we also have great forwards, midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers, that’s why we have to focus on what we do, which is the most important thing.”"
Toni’s optimism despite being seen as the underdogs
“This year will be difficult against PSG, of course, but so was last season, when we played against Bayern, Atlético, and Juventus in the final. We came up against the best teams and we managed to win the title again after having won it in 2016. I’m looking forward to these games. They’re going to be tough, of course, because PSG is a great team. But I’m looking forward to it and I’m optimistic.”
The German’s time at Real Madrid
"“From the first day, I felt very good at Real Madrid. It’s undoubtedly the biggest club in the world and we have achieved a lot in recent years. I hope we continue doing so in the future. Every title is special, especially my first league, which we won last year because I had a goal of winning the league in Spain as well. And, of course, the two Champions Leagues because it’s the most difficult competition to win. In Europe, there’re always a lot of great teams that are trying to do the same thing and we won it twice in a row. It was incredible.”“When you win the Champions League once it’s difficult to remain motivated, to keep the hunger to continue winning everything, but it was possible with this team. We had a great mentality. We were happy to have won one, but we didn’t stop working hard or being motivated. The opposite. We worked more than before to defend the title, which is the most difficult thing to do. We won it and we were happy, but again, football continues and we have to continue working to hopefully win more in the future.”"
Kroos touched on his unwillingness to change boots which comes with good reason of course
“I don’t have any special rituals or superstitions for these games. The only thing is in the last seven or eight years I’ve kept the same model of boots and I’m not going to change them because I feel comfortable with them.”
My Thoughts
It’s not often that we get these chances to hear from our starting XI players outside of pre-match pressers, especially ahead of such a contentious match. Kroos’ words did bring some ease to the minds of fans who are anxious as Madrid has not looked as bright.
The midfielder mentioned that in previous Champions League victories, they also faced tough opposition but were able to pull through when it mattered most.
Next: Real Madrid vs. PSG: Three things to watch for in the first leg
Toni Kroos will be bringing his A-game Wednesday but a positive result will require the whole squad to do so as well. Coming off a great La Liga match against Real Sociedad, Los Blancos look like they’re up for the challenge.