Kroos: “I think Liverpool are better now than they were in 2018”

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has talked to German TV station ZDF, where he previewed the upcoming Champions League Final against Liverpool.

“You always give your best in a Champions League Final, especially now that we had to give our all in more than one game to reach the Final. Now we’re there and we want to win it. In all honesty, I think Liverpool are better now than they were in 2018. The game is 50-50,” said Kroos.

The midfielder praised Carlo Ancelotti and said that his reputation of being “just a man manager” is unfair.

“It surprised me with Heynckes also. It’s a shame that coaches like Heynckes or Ancelotti are reduced to being just good managers of the dressing room, it’s not fair and it sounds like they just don’t know a single thing about tactics. Maybe, more often than not, they decide to go for a simple solution tactically speaking, but they know very clearly how they want their teams to play and that isn’t talked about often when people discuss them,” he explained.

Kroos concluded his interview by also explaining his thoughts about Karim Benzema.

“It wasn’t easy for him to become an even better player. I’ve spent the last eight seasons seeing him in very different roles. We weren’t able to replace Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals until Karim embraced that role to perfection,” concluded Kroos.