MY ACCOUNT
Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos revealed Carlo Ancelotti sought advice from senior players when making tactical changes in the incredible Champions League semi-final win over Manchester City.
A late double from substitute Rodrygo – who became the first player in Champions League history to score twice in the 90th minute of a knockout match – saw Los Blancos force extra time in Madrid. Karim Benzema’s penalty then secured a 6-5 aggregate triumph and kept alive Madrid’s hopes of a 14th crown in the competition.
Madrid boss Ancelotti has now reached a fifth Champions League final, having done so in 2003, 2005 and 2007 with Milan, and in 2014 and 2022 across two spells with the Spanish champions, and his introduction of Rodrygo, who replaced Kroos after 68 minutes, proved vital.
Fellow substitute Eduardo Camavinga also produced an outstanding display from the bench as Madrid qualified for their 17th European Cup/Champions League final.
Kroos, 32, revealed he and other senior players were asked for input on Ancelotti’s switches, saying the Italian’s ability to communicate with his players makes him an elite coach.
“The coach himself had a few doubts about who he would bring on and who not to bring on,” Kroos told DAZN. “We [the players] have all seen a few football games ourselves. That allows you to exchange ideas a bit.
“That describes him really well and why things always work well with the team. It’s outstanding. In the end he decides, but of course he’s interested in our opinion.”
Since 2003-04, which saw the introduction of the Champions League’s last-16 knockout stage, Madrid became the only team to lose a game in each of the first three knockout rounds and still make the competition’s final (losing 1-0 to Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16, 3-2 to Chelsea in the quarter-finals, and 4-3 to City in the semi-finals).
After Los Blancos set up a repeat of their 2018 Champions League final against Liverpool, in which a Gareth Bale double won the Spanish outfit their 13th European title, Kroos said he was struggling to explain the team’s remarkable ability to bounce back from falling behind.
“It’s amazing, we were out 26 times during the knockout phase and fought back 26 times,” he added.
“It’s sometimes difficult to explain, even for me, what happened in the last few minutes. That’s the belief, that’s the stadium, the combination is magical.”
