Kroos: You can't buy the Champions League

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has taken a shot at some of Europe's heaviest spenders by saying "you can't buy the Champions League".

Madrid knocked out Paris Saint-Germain, who smashed the world transfer record to sign Neymar in a bid to bring them closer to the title, in the last 16, while Manchester City, the most expensively assembled team in history, lost 5-1 on aggregate to Liverpool in the last round.

Kroos has won back-to-back tournaments with Madrid, having been part of Bayern's treble-winning side in 2012-13, and he believes such success underlines why no amount of money can guarantee success in the tournament.

"You can't buy a Champions League trophy. If that was the case, we would not have won it so much," he told a news conference when asked why Madrid and Bayern are so frequently in the latter stages.