“Quiet, but legendary” - Fans salute Toni Kroos after defining assist in final game to help Real Madrid win Champions League
Toni Kroos played his last match for Real Madrid as the Los Blancos lifted their record fifteenth Champions League trophy against Borussia Dortmund. Real Madrid fans have been flooding the internet with praise for Toni Kroos, who was one of the best players on the pitch and bowed out of club football on a high.
Some of the fan reactions from Madridistas on X (formerly Twitter) are as follows.
"Game winning assist in your last game for Real Madrid in a UCL final. Toni Kroos, what a legend," wrote one fan on X along with a picture of the midfielder from the UCL final.
"Quiet, but legendary. What a player," commented another.
Others posted his incredible statistics throughout the game and lauded the German's performance with numerical evidence.
"Toni Kroos’ gives his 99th Real Madrid assist on his last game. Written in the stars," opined another fan on X.
Some fans talked about his 'dream end to an exceptional career' as Kroos bid adieu after winning his record sixth UCL title.
"Toni Kroos ending his football playing career with a UCL win and that too with an assist in the #UCLfinal. Dream end to an exceptional career. One of the best players this game has ever seen," said one fan.
A large group of fans mocked real Madrid's arch-rivals Barcelona as they compared Kroos with Barcelona legends Xavi and Iniesta. Some even mentioned the fact that the German now has more Champions League titles than Barcelona.
"Tony kroos >> Xavi + Iniesta + Busquets," compared a fan.
"To think this is Kroos’ sixth time… just incredible," exclaimed another.
"Toni Kroos has more #UCL titles than Barcelona," mocked a large section of Madridistas.
Finally, someone also expressed sadness over the legendary German bidding adieu to club football.
Toni Kroos was instrumental in Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the UCL final
Statistically, Kroos was one of the best players on the pitch in the 2023/24 Champions League final. The German racked up a match rating of 8.2 on Sofascore, which was the second highest behind Dani Carvajal (8.5).
The German's assist opened the scoring for the Los Blancos in the 74th minute. Kroos whipped in a perfectly weighted corner into the penalty box, which was met by Dani Carvajal. He headed the ball into the top-right corner of the net, beyond the reach of goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
Additionally, the German maintained a passing accuracy of a whopping 97% throughout the whole match and was instrumental in orchestrating the game from midfield. Kroos could've scored two more goals from set pieces. In each half, he produced two curling freekicks that Kobel saved at full stretch.
With this Champions League title under their belt, Kroos, Dani Carvajal, Luka Modric and Nacho became the only players in history to have won the competition six times in their careers. They have surpassed Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo who have four and five trophies, respectively.