Toni Kroos, a former Real Madrid star, shared his thoughts on Paris Saint-Germain in his podcast, focusing on a key incident from their Champions League semifinal against Bayern Munich. The German midfielder highlighted how Ousmane Dembélé reacted after being substituted, contrasting it with the behavior of many so-called superstars.
Speaking about PSG coach Luis Enrique, Kroos said: “He takes off the best player in the world in the 65th minute and walks off. That’s fine. He shakes his hand and then cheers on his teammates from the bench.” Then he added: “Certainly, there are many counterexamples.”
Kroos analyzed the situation: “Why does he take him off? Because he saw Dembélé was exhausted and that Doué and Kvaratskhelia were playing better that day, so he subbed him off. Period.”
Regarding the player’s reaction, Kroos noted: “No one complains. And that shows a lot about the respect the coach commands. How a coach achieves that and, above all, how he demonstrates it by making the right decisions.”
He continued to praise Dembélé: “You see how he shouts at his teammates to push forward from the bench. Not like 90% of the others who think they are the stars of their teams: starting to make gestures on the pitch and then sitting on the bench like a sulky sausage.”
Kroos also had kind words for Luis Enrique: “In these details, I see what he has done with this team and with world-class players, how he has managed to mold them. That’s why I’m happy—it’s a team success.” Finally, he referred to Kvara (Khvicha Kvaratskhelia): “He works like crazy and remains a world-class player.”