Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior said it was “easy” to score the opening goal of Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Bayern Munich because of the exquisite pass from Toni Kroos that set it up.
Vini broke the deadlock in the 24th minute, becoming only the fourth player in Champions League history to score a semi-final goal in three successive seasons after Jari Litmanen, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin De Bruyne. He finished with composure beyond the on-rushing Manuel Neuer with his right foot, but was full of praise afterwards for the defence-splitting pass from Kroos.
“Toni always makes things easy,” Vinicius told host broadcaster Movistar.
“He gifted me a goal. We practice a lot together in training. I know Toni very well, and he knows me. I’m very happy to have scored two goals. Now we need a magic night at home.”
Kroos was humbly dismissive about the assist, saying it “wasn’t so special” when he was asked by reporters in the mixed zone.
“Vini allowed me to make the pass with his movement. He opened up the gap,” the midfielder said.
This angle of Toni Kroos’ pass for Vini Jr’s goal 🤩#UCL pic.twitter.com/9q2wYFtjvZ
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 30, 2024
The tie is delicately balanced ahead of next week’s second leg in Spain. The 2-2 aggregate scoreline at the halfway mark gives Madrid the slight advantage with a home crowd behind them. But it took a second Vinicius goal from the penalty spot in the closing stages to level things up after Bayern had turned things around through Leroy Sane and Harry Kane early in the second half.
Madrid will be hoping there are no lasting concerns over Jude Bellingham. The England star, who was an unused substitute for last Friday’s La Liga victory against Real Sociedad following a bout of illness, only managed 75 minutes in Munich after beginning to cramp up an hour in.
An 11-point lead over Barcelona in La Liga with only five games to play should give Carlo Ancelotti the opportunity to carefully manage his squad’s fitness and freshness for the weekend visit of Cadiz.
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