TONI KROOS brilliantly set up Brazilian prodigy Vinicius Jr tfor the first of his two goals in the 3-1 win against Liverpool.
Real Madrid hosted the Premier League champions in the Spanish capital for their Champions League quarter-finals first leg.
And the LaLiga kings were in front after 27 minutes thanks to a moment of brilliance from German Kroos and team-mate Vinicius.
The midfielder lobbed a pinpoint pass over to Vinicius, who expertly took it on his chest and fired home in the box.
It was only the 20-year-old winger’s fifth goal of the season.
Kroos was again involved as Real doubled their lead, through Marco Asensio.
The World Cup winner, sitting deep, fired a cross-field ball looking for Vinicius on the left.
Right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold then completely muffed his clearing header, diverting the ball straight into the path of Asensio.
The Spanish wideman dinked it over keeper Alisson and guided the ball in for 2-0.
Mo Salah gave the Reds a small glimmer of hope with a goal early in the second half – but Vinicius swept home his second to put Real firmly in control.
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Kroos, 31, proved pivotal for Real but had come into the game as a doubt.
He missed Germany’s three recent World Cup qualifiers with a with an adductor injury, but manager Joachim Low stressed the importance of the playmaker.
Low said: “Toni Kroos should not be scared of losing his position in this team. He is a world-class player and is very important for this team.
“We know we can lose players due to injuries but I am confident we will have everyone available in May because in the Euros we will need more than 11 starting players.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
