Real Madrid have recently won the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie against Liverpool by 3-1 without Ramos, Varane, Carvajal and Hazard among notable names. Zidane trusted in Vinicius and it paid off as the Brazilian scored two goals to give Real Madrid a two-goal cushion heading into the second leg. Toni Kroos dictated the midfield and was superb with his passing ranges.
The German midfielder admitted that Real Madrid’s game plan was to attack Liverpool’s young defence and exploit the injury issues in Jurgen Klopp’s squad.
He further revealed that their tactic was to press high and win the ball back off the defence by forcing mistakes in order to stop the forward players from being able to get the ball early. He also added that Real Madrid wanted to play passes forward and keep hold of possession to attack Liverpool.
Speaking to Sony Sports, as transcribed by the Liverpool Echo, Toni Kroos outlined Real’s tactics for the match. “A lot of things went well in the first half. I think we came out very motivated and even concentrated in our game plan and it went well, we tried to attack them very early because we knew that they also have to change some players because they have some injured players at the back. So, maybe we thought that’s going to be a good chance to win the ball very early and it went well.
“And of course when we have the ball, our idea was to keep the ball, keep the possession and play forward. And I think all of this went well especially when we lost the ball, we got the back ball very fast, I think this was one key for this great first half.
“Yeah, I mean it’s normal, I think that you try to figure out of the rival you know where some points where you can attack them. But it’s not only the point because they had to change some defenders but also that they come not too easily to their front because of all of us now what quality they have and you know in the front so one idea of course was to attack the defenders so that they cannot go easily to the front where they have most of their qualities.”
