"The better team won!" - Toni Kroos speaks about Real Madrid's Champions League clash against Chelsea
Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has opened up on his team's exit from the Champions League against Chelsea. According to the German international, Real Madrid did not deserve anything from their game against Chelsea and Thomas Tuchel's men were the better team over two legs.
Speaking on the 'Einfach mal Luppen' podcast, Toni Kroos was gracious in defeat and accepted that the better team won. Kroos said:
"We deserved to be eliminated against Chelsea. Especially in the second half of the second game it wasn’t difficult to see that the better team had won."
Real Madrid lost 3-1 on aggregate against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-finals. After a 1-1 draw at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano, Real Madrid lost 2-0 away in London to crash out of the competition.
Toni Kroos unhappy with referring decisions in Real Madrid game against Sevilla
Toni Kroos opened up on Real Madrid's game against Sevilla after talking about Los Blancos' exit in the Champions League. The 31-year old said that he and manager Zinedine Zidane were in disagreement over some of the referring decisions made during Real Madrid's 2-2 draw against Sevilla.
Toni Kroos believes Eder Militao did not commit a foul in the box and the penalty given to Sevilla should not have stood. Kroos said:
"He (the referee) has his back to the ball and doesn’t even see it.We were also told that if the ball ricochets off another part of the body, this is not a handball."
"For me this is clearly a situation who co-decided that. This is not only bitter, it also makes you very angry”
Real Madrid needed an injury time equalizer from Eden Hazard to rescue a point against Sevilla. Defeat could have seen Los Blancos lose ground to city-rivals Atletico Madrid in the race for the La Liga title.
Toni Kroos said that manager Zinedine Zidane never talks about referees and always protects them. However, the Real Madrid manager too was disappointed with the blatant lack of attention shown by the referee against Sevilla. Kroos added:
"Zizou (Zinedine Zidane) never really says anything about decisions, he always protects the referees. The fact that he goes to the referee after the game is a sign that he too felt a bit ripped off. And me too"
"We made that very clear to him again. He tried to justify himself, but for me it is a very, very clear wrong decision."
Real Madrid are currently 2 points behind rivals Atletico Madrid with one game remaining. Los Blancos have to win against Villarreal on the final day of the season and hope Atletico Madrid drop points against Real Valladolid.
Los Blancos know that due to having a better head-to-head record against Los Rojiblancos, a draw for Atletico Madrid and a win for them would be enough for Zidane's men to win their 35th La Liga title.