Chelsea vs Real Madrid: 3 Blancos the Blues must stop

Toni Kroos

In Kroos, CFC will be coming up, again, against the most intelligent passer in world football. Kroos has averaged at least a 93% passing accuracy in the past seven league seasons. This in and off itself, is not the most incredible thing, as incredible as it is, but it’s the fact that Kroos has averaged at least 80% long passing accuracy in those seasons consistently. That is downright ridiculous. The German is the art of passing. The 33-year-old central midfielder is outrageous with how good his passing is. To put it in context, the midfielder has led in the main European series in long balls completed per game over the past seven Champions league seasons (7.6 on average), but he has done this at an outrageous rate of 87% average accuracy across those seasons.

Los Blancos ability to control as much games as they do is thanks to Kroos. He decides how the game goes. His role for Ancelotti’s men in the first leg of the tie was exactly that, which is why they controlled the game as easily as they did. Kroos leads all players in this competition for passes into the final third (99) and progressive passes (81). In the reverse fixture the World Cup winner didn’t even need to attempt a single long ball while making 17 passes into the final third. He also made 11 progressive passes and all these from central midfield. He literally dictated the tempo of the game. It would not be ridiculous to suggest that Lampard should dedicate one player to stop Kroos from doing what he wants.