Real bites FC Bayern twice
Like a lethargic lion in the steppe sun
May 1, 2024, 8:36 a.m
FC Bayern played big against Real Madrid, turned around the first semi-final of the Champions League after falling behind, but in the end they didn’t leave the pitch as winners. This has to do with two of our own mistakes, but also with an opponent who is simply merciless.
Toni Kroos came in flip flops. And as relaxed as the national player strolled to the interview on Amazon Prime, he seemed unimpressed by what had happened on the Allianz Arena field over 90 minutes a little before. FC Bayern, for whom Kroos once played, had achieved a great achievement. FC Bayern stormed off, ran over and over again, scored two goals and missed several more opportunities. Means: More would have been possible in the first of two semi-final duels in the Champions League with Real Madrid, for whom Kroos has been playing for a long time. The score was 2-2 after the first 90 minutes. And everyone knew why: because real is real.
And because Kroos is just Kroos. After 24 minutes, the strategist spotted a small, open space. He saw that his striker Vinicius Junior had pulled Munich defender Min-jae Kim from the back row and was sprinting away from the South Korean. Kroos only focused his gaze on this scene; he wasn’t interested in what was happening around him. He didn’t have to look at the ball anyway, it simply obeyed him. And when everything was perfect, the space was open and the Brazilian was moving at top speed, then Kroos played the pass. So simple, so brilliant. Vinicius Junior finished without much effort (0:1). “Of course I know that Vini would rather have the ball in space than in his foot,” said Kroos on Amazon Prime Video. “Then he makes the movement. He actually makes the pass to me simply with his running path.” The enthusiasm for the pass knew no bounds on social media. “Kroos, genius,” wrote the Madrid newspaper “Marca” on X.
Unstoppable, even though everything is known
In the interviews after the game there was one sentence that was repeated over and over again: Real is real. This team has an inexplicable faith in God in things on the pitch. In the first 20 minutes, Kroos and his colleagues had no access to the game. So what? One Bavarian wave after another slammed into the Madrilenians. So what? And then, bang, Munich were behind. Hardly any team in Europe is in a better position to punish mistakes as mercilessly as the Real team around the steadfast Carlo Ancelotti. Like a lion in the steppe sun, Madrid lurks for prey, sometimes lethargic, but then the jump, the bite.
Thomas Tuchel, the current coach of FC Bayern, had predicted all of this. Last week, at the media roundtable before the game against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga, he warned that you can never predict when the Royals will strike. “If you look at Real Madrid’s goals and great chances to score and you bother to press the stop button ten seconds beforehand – you don’t see it coming,” Tuchel marveled. These attacks are launched by Kroos or by Jude Bellingham, who didn’t have a good evening this Tuesday. And they are completed by the almost unstoppable Vinicus Junior. Or about Rodrygo, who took the penalty to make it 2-2.
Bayern Munich midfielder Konrad Laimer later said: “It’s Real Madrid. They play the game a bit slowly, but then they can always pick up the pace and become dangerous. They’re all incredible players with an uncanny calmness who score a goal in a single moment can.” And in these phases everything runs through Kroos, the last regular of the once great trio around Luka Modric, who came on as a late substitute this time and lobbed a fantastic pass into the path of Vinicius Junior, and Casemiro, who has moved on to Manchester United. Kroos stands unmistakably in the center, with the relaxation of a flip-flop conductor, and watches over things. Make sure they don’t get out of hand.
Class teacher “Kroos sets them all up”
In Germany, the strategist’s great qualities often went under the radar. He has long since gotten over the dubious reputation of the “lateral pass” Toni and has enchanted his home country with his comeback at the international matches in March. The fact that the sad football nation of Germany has suddenly grown into a candidate who can achieve great things at the home tournament is also or primarily due to Kroos. In Spain, on the other hand, they have always been (at least mostly) blown away by the 34-year-old and his ice-cold genius. This is how the “El Mundo” from Madrid raved after the night in Munich: “Kroos arranged his players and even the opponents like a teacher entering a classroom. No more uncontrolled running around, no more paperwork. Everyone in their place. Kroos put them all in place “His teammate with the ball, his opponents without the ball.”
Ancelotti wasn’t quite as happy with the performance, but the maestro wasn’t fazed by a 2-2 draw in Munich either: “It wasn’t a special game, but it gives us courage and self-confidence for the second leg.” The coach particularly struggled with the intensity of the game and demanded more fight and strength, as in the quarter-finals against Manchester City, who were at times oppressively superior. “Bayern,” said Ancelotti, “showed their best side and I don’t think we did that, but we have the opportunity to show it next Wednesday.” And Kroos said: “I wouldn’t have liked it to be 2-2 at half-time, but of course I would have liked it ten minutes before the end. I think it’s fairly fair and we’re convinced that we’ll progress at home.” A little later he strolled away, calmly wearing his flip-flops.