Toni Kroos points the way for Real Madrid and shows their Champions League mastery

couldn’t stop it. There are times, the German coach had said on the eve of this most classic of, when you watch their games, analysing them closely, and everything seems to be under control, when the 14-time winners appear outnumbered and there’s nothing going on, no danger, nothing to fear, and so, feeling safe, you press play again. And then, bang, five, 10 seconds pass and the ball is in your net.

The finish was clean but, Vinícius insisted afterwards, it had been a gift from Kroos that had done it and he had run straight to his teammate and pointed back. “We know each other so well,” he noted when the final whistle went on a 2-2 draw that gives Madrid a slender advantage they didn’t look like having at that early stage. “Toni,” he said, “always does it easy things.” He always makes them look like easy things, anyway.

The most important had given Madrid the lead and lifeline at a stage when they were being overrun again – a wonderfully weighted delivery if also, in truth, one facilitated by Bayern and Kim in particular. Bayern did not feel the fatalism, taking a lead that Madrid had to respond to again. It was Vinícius who had the most decisive contribution, with two goals and the “assist” that led to the penalty for the second.

So much so in fact, that Kroos might not have been here at all and may yet not be back. When Madrid were knocked out last year, some concluded that his time, and that of Luka Modric, was coming to an end: there was a desire to accelerate the transition, Carlo Ancelotti requesting understanding from his senior players. Kroos did not begin the season in the starting XI.

Bayern-Munich Champions-League

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