The result was still the best thing after the 1-0 defeat, said Toni Kroos, before naming its reasons. Now Real Madrid are helped by the fact that the away goals rule no longer exists
The bigger names were on the opposite side this time, but supposedly the Champions League round of 16 first leg was one of those games that Real Madrid routinely win again in the designated favourite competition in the end. Until things turned out quite differently after a few even opening minutes.
Toni Kroos tried to put into words just how hopeless the Royals were at Prinzenpark on Tuesday evening after the final whistle on “Prime Video” – with a touch of gallows humour in his undertone. “Everyone saw that today,” the strategist hissed after the almost reprehensible question of whether PSG were the better team.
Mbappé was indefensible
Leaded by a barely stoppable Kylian Mbappé, who scored the much-deserved winner in the final minute, Paris dominated almost the entire top-of-the-table clash. “It’s not all defensible,” Kroos tipped his imaginary hat to Mbappé – for other causes he gave more concrete reasons.
“We were surprised how well Paris pressed. We would have thought they would have pulled further back,” admitted part of the Royal creative centre, who did not stand out as such. “And if we ever overplayed the first line, it was our fault. We were incredibly bad with the ball, it was gone straight away. “
Real benefit from abolition of away goals rule
What hasn’t gone away, despite all the lack of chances in Paris, is Madrid’s chances of reaching the quarter-finals. “The result was still the best today,” admitted Kroos, who also knows that the abolition of the away goals rule means well for Real in this case. And on 9 March (9 p.m.) the Royals will play in front of a home crowd, something Kroos is also counting on: “With the Bernabeu behind us, I don’t want to rule anything out with this score. “