Zidane marvels at Kroos impact after Real Madrid victory

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane hailed the impact of Toni Kroos after the midfielder’s goal helped them to victory over Napoli.

The Champions League holders came from behind to win 3-1 in the first leg of their last-16 tie at Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, with the Germany international scoring the second goal.

Zidane lauded Kroos’ performance and thinks the 27-year-old has heeded his instruction to make more of an impression in both boxes.

“Kroos likes to arrive late in the box and we spoke about it recently,” Zidane told UEFA.

“He has the capacity to run more both defensively and attacking. 

“He has brilliant feet and can score from those kind of positions with his powerful shot. I’m very pleased for him.”

4 – Napoli have conceded 3+ goals for the 4th time in their 11 away Champions League games. Rowdy. #realmadridnapoli

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) February 15, 2017

Zidane knows Madrid will suffer at times in the second leg, but feels they are in a strong position to progress after ending Napoli’s 18-game unbeaten streak.

The Madrid boss continued: “We played a great game – it was a shame about the Napoli goal, but we rectified things.

“We scored ourselves and turned the game on its head. I think it was the right result.

“We will go there to a difficult ground where we will suffer and it is still an open game. We need to go there and finish it off with our 3-1 advantage.

“Napoli are a great side and they made life tough for us. They are capable of doing damage at any moment, but we too have our weapons to hurt the opposition.”

Madrid, who have reached the last four in each of the last six seasons, are bidding to win their third European title in four attempts.