"Even Bayern Munich occasionally make a mistake": Toni Kroos refuses to write off Real Madrid – and explains what surprised him in the first leg

Bayern had taken the lead shortly before half-time in Tuesday’s first leg through Luis Díaz, and Harry Kane added another immediately after the break. Kroos was surprised that the German record champions did not seal the deal early on.

“With a 2-0 cushion, we could have killed the tie mentally and dispelled any doubts. I was surprised that Bayern then sat back a bit and defended with less intensity,” said Kroos, who moved from Munich to Madrid in 2014 and, in ten years at Real, won five Champions League titles with the Royals, among other honours.

Bayern had “the game completely under control” after their second goal, Kroos said. “I expected them to keep dominating and maybe score again. I thought they would control the ball and add a third, fourth or fifth goal – but the opposite happened.”

Instead, Real grew increasingly dangerous as the second half wore on. Manuel Neuer made several outstanding saves to keep Bayern ahead, but in the 74th minute even the 40-year-old was beaten as Kylian Mbappé netted to make it 1-2 from the Spanish perspective.

Looking ahead to the second leg, Kroos is counting on the individual quality of Mbappé and Vinicius Junior. “You saw here: Bayern don’t clear every danger; they will inevitably make the occasional mistake,” the former Germany international emphasised, before adding: “Take Vini and Mbappé up against a Stanisic or a Laimer – there’s always something to be had in a one-on-one; we don’t need to discuss that.”

Still, he warns that Real must “find one or two extra solutions on the ball besides the counter-attack” at the Allianz Arena. “At some point you have to open up, join the game and create your own answers. That’s often been a problem; they’ve not been good enough at that.”

Three days after losing to Bayern, Real suffered another setback on Friday. In LaLiga, the Blancos could only manage a 1–1 home draw against Girona, sparking fresh refereeing controversies. Barcelona, inspired by the outstanding Lamine Yamal, then won the city derby 4–1 against Espanyol, stretching Real’s deficit to nine points with seven rounds left.

By contrast, Bayern fine-tuned their preparations for the second leg with a convincing 5-0 victory at FC St. Pauli on Saturday. In the process, FCB surpassed their own Bundesliga goal record from 1971/72 (101 goals), with Leon Goretzka netting the decisive strike. After 29 matchdays, Bayern have now racked up 105 Bundesliga goals.