Watch Toni Kroos ping brilliant ball to Vinicius Jr as Real Madrid take lead vs Liverpool in Champions League
TONI KROOS brilliantly set up Brazilian prodigy Vinicius Jr to open the scoring 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 then dinked it over keeper Alisson and guided the ball in for 2-0.
Kroos, 31, proved pivotal for Real in the first half, but came into the game as a doubt.
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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.”