In Champions League Round 6, Manchester City defeated Real Madrid 2-1 away from home. In an interview with Camel Live, German football legend and Real Madrid icon Toni Kroos commented on his former club’s 1-2 Champions League defeat to Manchester City earlier this week.
Q: What’s your take on Real Madrid’s game against Manchester City?
“If you actually watched the match, you could clearly feel that Real Madrid played harder and with more intensity. This game was more important for them because they were desperate to end their recent poor run of form.”
“I don’t think Man City deserved to win this game at all. In fact, Real Madrid were the more threatening team throughout the entire match. After Man City scored their second goal, they switched to a very deep defensive formation. This exposed an obvious problem for Real Madrid: they’re extremely good at transition play, but not very adept at breaking down deep-lying defensive setups, so they never found a way to score.”
“You could clearly sense that Real Madrid played with more effort and intensity. This game meant more to them. What struck me is that Man City’s tactical setup was much the same as usual, but they played very dull and posed no threat.”
“They never penetrated into dangerous attacking areas, especially in the first half. I think Real Madrid put in a really solid performance, with tight and excellent defense in dangerous zones.”
