Kroos: "We're under pressure but I have faith in us" | OneFootball

Before taking to the Borussia-Park pitch for the team's training session, Toni Kroos addressed the media in a press conference in which he preview the side's second Champions League outing of the campaign: "We're aware of the significance of the game. After the defeat in our first match, against Shakhtar Donetsk, the pressure is on us to win, but I have faith in us. It's like a cup final for us".

"I don't think that Zinedine Zidane has ever had any question marks about us. We all win and lose together. It's not a case of us not backing him when we lose. That'd be the easy thing to do, if things go badly, for us to speak badly of others. We're not like that and you saw that on Saturday".

Return to Germany "I always enjoy coming back to Germany because it's my country, my language and everything's more straightforward for me. But I've always said that I enjoy myself at Madrid and like living in Madrid. Over the course of six years, you always receive offers, but I feel really at home in Madrid and my idea is to end my career here".

Motivation "We spoke about things after the defeats and it was clear to us that it wasn't down to a lack of motivation. Sometimes things just don't go your way and that's the way it is. We know that a Clásico is always special, but, it looks like last season's LaLiga title was won by beating the small teams. We often perform well against Barcelona, but we then go and drop points against slightly small sides. There's no motivation issue, it's just that things don't always go your way, for example, like in the Cádiz game. As I said, after the defeat in our Champions League opener means that we're under a lot of pressure to win here".

Improve "I always try to improve. I'm never going to stop doing that because I think it's the key. When you play at this level for many years, you always want to improve and it's true that I got more goals last season, but that'll never be my priority. I bring other things to the team that are more important. Sometimes the ball goes in the and other times it doesn't, but the important thing for me is that I'm creating chances. That's my first focus and if I can also get some goals, then that's fine too".

Borussia "They're a very pacy side and are really strong in attack. They're a good team and I'm certain it's going to be difficult for us tomorrow".   "Nobody performed to the level they're capable of against Cádiz and I'm the first one to admit that, and if you play like that, things will never go your way, regardless of who you're up against. In the Shakhtar game, we lacked a bit of confidence after their opening goal. We tried but it was all a bit too late, but that's sometimes the way things go. The good thing is that we never give up and we saw that on Saturday. Whenever we lose two games, we try to turn things around, but it's not as if everything's fine now. We won an important game, but we've got another cup final tomorrow and we have to prove that we can change things around even more and perform better than we did on Saturday and win the game".

Fear "No, it's not fear. There's no fear in football, but we have to be aware of the situation. There are only six games in the group and if you lose your opening game, you're then under pressure. I have faith in us and that things will work out better than they did in the two games we've mentioned".

Criticism "If you play for Real Madrid that's just the way it is. You have to accept that if you lose games, you'll be criticised and perhaps more so than at other clubs. The way you react is important and I think that our reaction was good, but it was just one game. We have to keep it up".

Comparisons with Bayern "In recent months, Bayern have been the best team in the world. If you look at their results, how they play, they've won the Champions League... You've got to accept that there are some teams who are a bit better, but we've already experienced that. Between 2016 and 2018 we were the best team. It's only normal that you can't keep that up for 10 years because there are many teams out there with great quality, but things can always change quickly. I've in no doubt that we too can be like that in a short space of time and that's what we work day in, day out for, to get good results. The most important thing is your day-to-day work. Then there's the LaLiga games and the Champions League matches and that we use every game to improve. We've got quality".

Unfulfilled Champions League dreams "If I've won it four times, I want a fifth. You want one more trophy because winning this competition gives you a special feeling and if you've experienced it, you want to win more and more. As far as I'm concerned, I want to win the Champions League once more".