At a glance
- Real Madrid legend Toni Kroos reacted to the 2-1 loss to one of his other former teams in Bayern Munich.
- The midfield icon said that result didn’t surprise him.
- He also called Arbeloa’s side “the most dangerous team” in the world in moments of chaos.
Real Madrid icon Toni Kroos has spoken about his former side’s recent 2-1 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Kroos represented both European giants in his playing days, and beat Bayern in the semifinals in 2024 on the way to his sixth UCL crown.
Speaking on his Einfach mal Luppen podcast with brother Felix, Kroos isn’t surprised by what happened in the Bernabeu on Tuesday “even though Bayern put on an excellent performance”.
Kroos identified an interesting part of Real Madrid’s defeat
What caught Kroos’ eye the most is what happened after the Bavarians took a 2-0 lead. Harry Kane doubled his team’s tally, but the match didn’t turn into a massacre.
“In recent years, Bayern have delivered good performances against Real Madrid. But in return legs, they often fail to maintain their level or secure qualification. They get affected by small details,” Kroos said.
“Let me explain. The 2-0 lead after the first half was supposed to end the match mentally and remove any doubts about the result. But what surprised me was that Bayern started to retreat and defend with less pressure.”
“At that moment, Bayern was in complete control of the match. And I expected either continued dominance or widening the gap. I thought they would either maintain control calmly with ball possession. Or add a third, fourth, and maybe even a fifth goal, but the opposite happened.”
One incident during Real Madrid Vs. Bayern Munich stood out
For Kroos, the mistake that Dayot Upamecano made against Vinicius Jr. proved a turning point in the tie.
“After that, Real Madrid showed their strong character and created several dangerous chances between the 60th and 75th minutes despite trailing 0-2,” he said. Kroos added that Real Madrid are “the most dangerous team in the world when matches turn into attacking chaos and back-and-forth exchanges”.
This is a style that Alvaro Arbeloa side “adore”, which why they came close to levelling after Kylian Mbappe pulled one back.
“The match could have ended 3-3, but it finished 2-1. From my perspective, Bayern were capable of managing the game better, either by holding onto their lead or exploiting spaces to score 3-1 or 4-1 in the end,” Kroos concluded.
Real Madrid still believe in the remontada
Though crestfallen after drawing 1-1 with Girona on Friday, Arbeloa still believes that Madrid can turn things round in Munich.
“I want my players to believe, that’s all I want,” Arbeloa said. “And the 25 of us who go there will be convinced that we can measure up. It’s normal for Bayern to look like favourites, but they’re going to have white shirts in front of them, a round crest. And I’m sure we’re going to measure up.”
With Barcelona able to open up a nine-point lead in La Liga by beating Espanyol, it is only by advancing in Europe that Arbeloa gets to keep his job.
