“You have to congratulate Hansi Flick and Barcelona” – Real Madrid icon Toni Kroos

Barcelona will not win the Champions League this season, but their efforts in the competition have been commended by many in recent months. And the latest to give praise to the Catalan side is Real Madrid icon Toni Kroos.

Toni Kroos praises Barcelona after impressive Champions League run

Speaking on his ‘Einfach mal Luppen’ podcast (via MD), Kroos discussed the recent semi-final tie between Inter and Barcelona. He admitted that he was very surprised at the ability of the Blaugrana to break down their opponents with relative ease. In this regard, he gave credit to Hansi Flick, who was previously his manager on the German national team.

“In the first leg they were losing 2-0, and in the second leg they were also 2-0 down. And normally against Inter you can’t come back because they have a very solid defence, but when you see the way Barcelona play football, you have to congratulate Hansi Flick and Barcelona for this performance.

“There is a very high level of collective and individual quality. It’s amazing how they played from the 45th minute, or indeed throughout the second half, against an opponent who knows how to defend well, but they were able to find space and get to the goal. One of the things that surprised me the most about Barcelona was how weak Inter’s defence was against them, not only in this game, but in both matches.”

Kroos believes Barcelona’s high-line tactic was doomed to be punished

Kroos also spoke on Barcelona’s infamous high-line tactic, with he believes has been somewhat lucky to be so effective given that their starting central defenders lack pace.

“Iñigo Martínez and Cubarsí are much better than Araujo, but they don’t have the speed and then it’s an even greater risk when they overtake you. That was the risk they took and it gives them a lot of success and impressive victories, but as I thought, the day would come when that risk would be punished, and it was with Inter.”