Real Madrid head to Anfield to take on Liverpool in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final and in the buildup of the match, Jurgen Klopp has singled out Toni Kroos and Vinicius Jr for praise.
Toni Kroos along with Luka Modric ran the show in the 3-1 win last week and despite being devoid of pace, the German international outclassed players like Thiago and Fabinho in the middle of the park. So, it’s quite obvious that Klopp chose to admire his qualities.
Praising Kroos, the Liverpool boss said: “Obviously quite a successful career so far and not really old; I’m not sure, Toni might be 29, something like that? So there’s still a lot to come.
“Quite a nice person as well, really relaxed fella. We don’t know each other really well but I appreciated him – or admired him – already for years because he is just a wonderful football player.
“His skills are obviously… it’s like, I’m not sure if you know Bernd Schuster – another German player who played quite successfully in Spain – he is a similar player but Toni is probably even more dynamic, quicker in all the things he’s doing. Maybe not a sprinter but quicker.
“A guy who is really difficult to defend because he can change the game from really deep areas and when he is higher up the pitch he still has the eye for a pass through the gap or for a proper finish from distance. So, yeah, nice package, to be honest.”
Vinicius Jr was another player who was on fire in the first leg as he managed to score a brace on the night. He tormented Trent Alexander-Arnold down the left flank and Klopp has admitted that he was not totally surprised by what the youngster did last week.
Speaking about Vinicius’ performance in the first leg, Klopp said: “I was impressed, not surprised. He is obviously an outstanding talent and everyone knew it before Real Madrid signed him, but since then he obviously became even better.
“That’s cool. Special plans? Yeah, that’s unfortunately the case, you saw one goal I think we could have defended and the other goal was just a great, great long ball and then a great first touch and great finish. So, yes, we try to avoid the passes in his direction, which is a big task. Impressed? Yes. Surprised? Not.”
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Vinicius Jr was obviously at the forefront of it all in the first leg and Jurgen Klopp will be giving Trent Alexander-Arnold some special lessons on how to stop the 20-year-old from getting past him.
But it was Toni Kroos who was the unsung hero from the first leg and if Liverpool do not have a plan to stop the German from controlling the strings then Real Madrid are going to have a comfortable win on Wednesday as well.
The plan to use Naby Keita in midfield worked out really badly in the first leg so the Liverpool boss is going to use the trio of Fabinho, Wijnaldum and Thiago in the middle of the pitch this week.
But the big problem is while the likes of Wijnaldum and Thiago are great going forward but will they be able to man-mark and hound down players like Luka Modric and Toni Kroos all throughout the match?
Data courtesy Whoscored.
