Real Madrid midfielder Kroos message to Ancelotti with criticism of tactics

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has never been afraid to speak his mind, and was clear that in his view, manager Carlo Ancelotti got it wrong against RB Leipzig on Wednesday night. Los Blancos went through 2-1 on aggregate, but were hanging onto their advantage for most of the match, and were relieved when the referee blew the final whistle.

Ancelotti surprised many by going with a line-up featuring five midfielders, with Fede Valverde to the right of midfield, and Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham the furthest forward, dropping Rodrygo Goes in the process. After the match, Kroos praised Leipzig, but admitted his side’s shape did not help.

“Leipzig played well, they defended very well and through their defense they were able to create good counterattacks. We knew they could be dangerous. To a certain point, we were good with the ball, but we didn’t have enough people up front to be dangerous.”

There was little attempt to hide that this was far from a vintage Real Madrid night in Europe.

“The result is one thing, how we play is another. At half-time we felt good about the result, but not about the way we were playing. The second half was a little better, but still not good enough to say we deserve to be in the next round. We didn’t do well at all, but we are in the quarterfinals,” he commented to Diario AS.

Kroos’ criticism was not unique either. Ancelotti himself admitted that he would not have lined up in the same manner in hindsight, and that if he had made all of the changes he had wanted to at half-time, then he would have hooked the manager too. Nevertheless, Los Blancos live to fight in the quarter-finals.