Kroos: “It’s funny to read reports about my future when I haven’t even decided”

Toni Kroos was the player selected for the pre-match press conference ahead of Real Madrid’s Champions League game against Celtic and the German’s future was a major talking point. He was asked several questions about whether or not he’ll retire when his contract expires at the end of the season, but wasn’t giving anything away.

On his future, he said: “I feel good physically and things are going well. I don’t even know what’s going to happen, so I find it funny when I read reports claiming to know what I’m thinking. I’m not going to think about it until the World Cup break or next year. Then, I’ll decide what I want to do. What I’ve always said, and what’s still the same, is that I will retire here. I won’t go to another club. The doubt is just when I will retire. I don’t know what age I could go to. With my kids I could play until I’m 50, I know that! I don’t know if Modrić will do the same, but our decisions are independent. We’re both old enough to make decisions on our own.”

Kroos on his current form

The German was also asked about how he is playing right now and if he thinks he has improved, both offensively and defensively, this season. He replied: “It’s definitely a good moment. I don’t know if it’s the peak, it would be hard to pick from the past eight years. Of course I always try to adapt myself. When a player like Casemiro leaves, I know I might have to play a bit different. Luka Modrić and I might have to adapt to see what helps the team. With the ball, I don’t think I’ve changed very much. So, those passing stats don’t surprise me. But, maybe I have improved on the defensive side.”

Kroos on whether he feels fatigued

Fatigue was discussed too, but Kroos dismissed that as a reason for the draw against Girona or loss in Leipzig. He said: “Personally, it’s true that I have a break to look forward to with the World Cup, but I feel good. With fatigue, you can also win or lose a match for other reasons. When we beat Barcelona and Sevilla, nobody suggested we were tired. Now, they do because we didn’t win the last matches.”

Kroos on the Girona VAR controversy

The Marco Asensio handball incident from Sunday was also brought up and Kroos said the following on that decision and the explanations given by Spain’s referees: “It wasn’t our best match overall and then we had that penalty that went against us. We have chats with referees, but, honestly, I don’t listen much in them because it’s the same every year. In the end, they call what they think or see in the moment. I’m quite clear that it wasn’t a penalty the other day, although I don’t like to speak about referees because sometimes they make decisions for you and sometimes against you. I don’t want to say that we drew because of that. What was surprising the other day was that I think the referee was good in general and then there was that moment when he went to VAR. I don’t know why he had to do that.”

Kroos on his first red card

He had no complaints about his red card, though, stating: “It took many matches until that happened. I felt I had to make a mini foul to stop a counter with the second one and I tried not to do it in a way that would get me booked, but that wasn’t to be.”

Kroos on World Cup vs Champions League

As a World Cup and a Champions League winner, Kroos was asked what achievement he is prouder of. He replied: “It’s very hard to compare them because they’re the two most important competitions, the most important for your country and the most important for your club. Maybe the World Cup is harder since it’s only every four years, but I’m not going to choose.”

Kroos on winning a sixth Champions League

On whether he thinks about what a sixth Champions League would mean, he said: “It would be nice. It’s the same every year, though, as we want to win the Champions League every year, which would be impossible. You need to be there when it’s important, in the knockout rounds. We’ve seen how you can quickly end up out of this competition.”