Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos admits it was tough for his team against Manchester City without Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo was sidelined with a thigh injury as Madrid played out a 0-0 draw at the Etihad Stadium in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.
The visitors had their chances in Manchester without breaking through as Ronaldo’s absence was at times felt.
Kroos said it was tough for his team to cope without the star attacker, who has 47 goals in all competitions this season.
“I don’t like to talk about players who haven’t played, I prefer to talk about the ones who have,” he said.
“Ronaldo is very important for us because he’s decisive and he scores goals. It’s obviously more difficult to play without him.”
Ahead of the return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu next week, Kroos called for his team to repeat the performance they produced against Wolfsburg in the last eight.
Ronaldo scored a hat-trick as Zinedine Zidane’s men claimed a 3-0 win at home for a 3-2 aggregate victory.
“We have to play well and do things like we did against Wolfsburg,” Kroos said.
“If we play like that I think we’ll be in the final.”
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