Toni Kroos signed off on his career at Real Madrid in the best possible way, and has laid a platform for teammate Jude Bellingham to become a legend in his own right.
LONDON — It was apt that Toni Kroos‘ last significant contribution in a Real Madrid shirt helped create another moment of history for the undisputed kings of the Champions League. A perfectly delivered corner, headed into the net by Dani Carvajal, and Madrid were on their way to a record 15th European Cup win by defeating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at Wembley.
Twelve minutes later, Kroos was substituted by coach Carlo Ancelotti — who was about to extend his own record to five Champions Leagues wins as a coach — to a standing ovation from the Real fans in London, with his place in the history books assured.
„It could be worse,“ Kroos told CBS. „That was the plan [to win the Champions League in his last game for Madrid], even though it’s difficult to plan this. It seems in these games we are unable to lose.
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„Amazing. Six titles in the Champions League is crazy, something I never thought I’d achieve.“
Kroos‘ six Champions League wins — one with Bayern Munich and five with Madrid — puts him in rarified air. Nobody has won more, ever. Real great Paco Gento and Kroos‘ modern-day teammates Luka Modric, Nacho Fernandez and Carvajal are the only players in history to lift the European Cup six times, but this win was the final chapter for Kroos, with the 34-year-old announcing recently that he will retire from football after representing Germany at Euro 2024.
„It’s what he wanted, retiring at the top, and he’s done it,“ Real president Florentino Perez told TVE. „He’s a player who’ll be one of the great legends of Real Madrid, without doubt.“
Just as Kroos was cradling the trophy for the sixth time, Jude Bellingham was getting acquainted with it for the first.
