Toni Kroos: Every team needs a Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos says every team needs a goalscorer like Cristiano Ronaldo as he reflected on the club’s historic Champions League triumph.

Kroos played as Madrid cruised to a 4-1 win over 10-man Juventus in Cardiff on Saturday, becoming the first team in the Champions League era to retain their title.

Ronaldo scored two crucial strikes either side of Casemiro’s deflected effort to ensure he finished as the competition’s top scorer for a record fifth straight year, and sixth time overall.

The Portugal international had scored five goals in the quarter-final tie against Bayern Munich and three in the last-four win over Atletico Madrid, with Kroos hailing his impact.

“Everybody knows that Cristiano is very important,” Kroos said to BT Sport.

“As a team we played very well in the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and the final – but you need a guy to score the goals and he did it again.

“I didn’t expect that it was possible to defend this title, it is so difficult to win it once.

“To win it three times in four years means a lot and it is not only a good team on the pitch, but off the pitch, I am happy to be part of it.

“Juventus are a very good defensive side but we showed our quality.”

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— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) June 3, 2017

Marco Asensio scored Madrid’s fourth after coming on as a late substitute and the attacking midfielder was ecstatic to finish his campaign with a huge high.

“I’m really happy with how things have gone for me and the great year that we’ve had as a team,” he said.

“We spoke about what we had to do to improve and we did that. We went out for the second half with a lot of desire and that was reflected on the pitch.

“The togetherness in the group has been the key to winning the four titles.

“We all work for each other and we trust each other. You would never imagine a year like this.”