Real in Kroos control

While Real Madrid’s ‘BBC’ strikeforce of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo were all on the scoresheet in Saturday’s 5-1 La Liga win over Rayo Vallecano, the man of the match at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu was Blancos midfielder Toni Kroos.

Kroos set up the night’s first goal for Bale with a snapping tackle and then perfect cross, and also curled in a superb 25 yard effort to make it 3-1 early in the second half.

That was his first goal for Madrid, and killed off valiant resistance from a Rayo side which just seconds earlier had almost made it 2-2.