Kroos: “I told Ramos to cool it down”
The Real Madrid midfielder spoke about the reunion with Sergio Ramos and the Sevilla defender’s scuffle with Rüdiger.
Toni Kroos hooked up with his brother Felix to record a new episode of the podcast Einfach mal luppen. During the chat, the Real Madrid midfielder spoke about the reunion with Sergio Ramos in last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Sevilla, the former Madrid centre-back’s confrontation with Antonio Rüdiger and also looked towards the next game - El Clásico against Barcelona in Montjuïc. Just one point separates the two teams going into the match and for Kroos, the game will not be decisive in the league title race.
“Do you want me to tell you that this match will decide the league? Well no!” Kroos stated. “It is an important game in terms of position in the table, and for the kind of game it is. To put it another way - this match is in a class of its own. We will be going there to win. If we can do that, we would be four points ahead of Barcelona... which would mean nothing. And if we lose, we would be two points behind Barcelona, which would also mean nothing. But it is clear that we want to win. The Clásico is the Clásico”.
Ramos reunion
Regarding last Saturday’s clash at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, where he came face to face with former team mate Sergio Ramos, the German added: “I was a little far away from him because of my position on the pitch. At the end, there was a bit of a struggle, in which I suggested that he cool things down. It worked, except with the fans, but that’s another topic... On the field, things quickly calmed down again. Then we saw each other in the locker room, it was nice. At Madrid, we had success together for many years. I have already said on several occasions that he is one of the best centre-backs and captains of all time.”
Felix meanwhile wanted to know how his brother experienced the clash between Sergio and Antonio Rüdiger and what he thought of the Spanish defender grabbing his team mate’s cheeks. Toni took it with humor and replied: “Sergio put a smile on his face. Things got heated. As for Antonio, I have to say, I take my hat off to him. He knew how to handle it and was aware that we have the Clásico up next, so he couldn’t afford to lose composure. That’s probably what slowed him down a bit. If it had been the other way around, it would have been even more fun!”