After 23 minutes of German siege in a feverish stadium, the European classic par excellence, the most played match on the continent, Toni Kroos wandered around the Bayern field without apparent meaning, in an area without teammates and without attackers, as if the rivals granted him little danger, little risk: a man to whom they could leave meters without fear. And so Kroos moved horizontally first and then vertically, demanding breaks with his gaze. Here you have to stop for a moment.
Four years ago, at the Santiago Bernabéu, with the ball in play, and during a classic, Toni Kroos waved his arm at Vinicius to show him a way out. He raised his finger in desperation because Kroos saw the gap, but Vini didn’t yet. After signaling the pass to half of Spain, the Brazilian started running down the wing and was left alone with Piqué behind and the goal ahead. This summer, in preseason, Kroos made such a pass to Vini that Bellingham, behind him, put his hands on his head while Vini was running and started applauding, the Englishman, before the goal.
The teacher continues teaching and the student still needs cues, but more discreet. This Tuesday in Munich, with all the pressure in the world, Kroos drove, feigning reluctance, and suddenly shook his finger, pointing out a gap in the German defense: it was not an ostentatious gesture like the one at the Bernabéu, but it was clear enough for Vini, Spurred on, he started running between the Bayern defenders with the knife in his mouth.
The pass that Kroos gave him was amazing because it seemed like an optical effect without being one: he made the ball circulate not only at the perfect speed but with a delicate effect that separated it from the Bayern defender and left it to Vini at the feet, almost like billiards, at the height of the penalty spot, in the goalkeeper’s no-man’s zone: you didn’t have to control it, you didn’t even have to look at it, just hit it for a goal. Another German-Brazilian connection from the Champions League is in memory, the one that made Vini an adult: that of the great goal against Liverpool in the 2021 quarterfinals.
What happened after that was pure European Cup. Madrid was able to make it 0-2 in the second half with a brilliant shot by Kroos, a giant all night with the ball, and Bayern shook Madrid’s lapels and reminded them at home that if there is a club similar to Real, is he. Two slaps in a row, two blows out of nowhere, two goals that froze Real Madrid and put Ancelotti’s team on the ropes. A levitating stadium and Bayern believing what it is, the usual Bayern. The two giants looked at each other recklessly in the last thirty minutes and Madrid, soaked in gasoline, it was not known whether to burn or to burn the rival with it, pulled the shield and scored a penalty and a tie that put the Bernabéu in suspense for the return, the most important game for another year, spring in Chamartín and a team believing everything and ready to do it. Against the closest thing to a twin that it has in Europe. Nobody knows anything now, everyone suspects everything.
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