Toni Kroos believes Karim Benzema has filled the Cristiano Ronaldo void at Real Madrid "to perfection" after enjoying a stunning 2021-22 season that has him in Ballon d'Or contention.
Heading into Saturday's Champions League final, Benzema has scored 44 goals from 45 matches across all competitions this term, which is 12 more than his previous best for a single campaign.
Similarly, his record of 0.98 goals per game is also comfortably the best he has managed over the course of one season.
Add to that a haul of 15 assists, Benzema's 59 goal involvements is second only to Kylian Mbappe (60 – 39 goals, 21 assists), highlighting just how much of a double threat Los Blancos' talisman has been.
Among his goals have been some crucial strikes as well. He netted consecutive hat-tricks against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea in the Champions League, before also scoring three times over the course of the semi-final defeat of Manchester City.
He has not always been Madrid's main man in attack, with Benzema speaking openly in the past about having to sacrifice his own output for Ronaldo during their time together at the Santiago Bernabeu – he scored just five league goals in the 2017-18 season, for example.
But Kroos admires how the Frenchman has stepped up.
"It wasn't easy to become an even better player," Kroos told ZDF. "I've seen him for eight seasons in all kinds of different roles. Not in other positions, but in terms of the jobs he did on the pitch.
"There were times when he had to pull the bandwagon with his goals and others in which he used to look more to his right and left.
"Cristiano scored 50 goals per season for us and Gareth [Bale] was also on the left in his best years. Those two pillars fell from us.
"Others came like Vinicius [Junior] or Rodrygo, who are evolving very well, but we weren't able to cover Cristiano's 50 goals with just one player until Karim took on that role to perfection."
Saturday's game will be the third European Cup/Champions League final to be contested between Madrid and Liverpool, making it the most common match-up in UEFA's club showpiece.
Although Madrid won LaLiga with four matches to spare, there is a consensus they have exceeded expectations in the Champions League, particularly given they have had great escapes in all three knockout rounds.
Despite that, Kroos does not necessarily consider Liverpool favourites, even if he does accept they have been Europe's best this season.
"Honestly, I think this Liverpool are a better team than in 2018," he added, looking back to Madrid's 3-1 final victory in Kyiv.
"They managed to retain their best players and they signed a few more. Thiago [Alcantara] sets the standards in midfield, they are still very strong at the back and I think that, in terms of record, they were the best team in Europe this season.
"But it's still just one game and you also have to take into account that we eliminated them last season in the quarter-finals. It's 50-50."
He continued: "In a Champions League final you give everything, especially considering that we already had to give everything on more than one occasion to reach the final.
"Now we're there and we want to win the cup, yes, all being aware of the great rival we face."
Sporting Kansas City v Los Angeles FC: Cherundolo taking pride in staunch defence
Steve Cherundolo stated his pride in Los Angeles FC's defence and hopes they can put in another big performance against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.
LAFC have won their last three games in all competitions, starting with their US Open Cup win over Sporting KC before getting back on track in MLS.
They are second in the Western Conference with three games left, with their 1-0 win over St. Louis City, in which they did not concede a single shot on target, closing the gap to LA Galaxy.
Cherundolo lauded his defenders for that performance and is pleased to see their training sessions paying off.
"It's great to see we're growing and learning in certain situations and putting all the pieces together," Cherundolo said.
"The defensive side of the game is something we train a lot and take pride in. When our defenders have enough minutes together and continuity, we're quite good.
"They've done extremely well and adapted amazingly by applying their lessons from training into the matches."
Meanwhile, Kansas City will not be playing in the postseason as they sit 13th after just one win in their last five, losing 3-1 to St. Louis last time out.
However, head coach Peter Vermes has challenged his side to finish the regular season on a high.
"I'd like to win both games. This isn't like handing out free passes to go and play," Vermes said.
"Being in this spot isn't normal for our club, but I'm not changing the way I pick the team. We've still got two games to play, and we'll give it everything we have to make it tough."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sporting Kansas City – Stephen Afrifa
Despite dominating against St. Louis last time out, Kansas City failed to get a win, though Stephen Afrifa ensured they did not fire a blank.
He scored their only goal after having six shots, four of which were on target, while also having nine touches in the opposition box, more than anyone else on the pitch.
LAFC – Denis Bouanga
There is no doubt who has been one of the star performers for LAFC this season, with Denis Bouanga scoring 19 goals in MLS so far.
He does not just score goals though, as he can also dictate play – his five chances created against St. Louis last time out were the most of any player in the game.
MATCH PREDICTION: LOS ANGELES FC WIN
Kansas City have failed to win any of the six meetings with LAFC since September 2021 in MLS regular season and have only won four of their 12 matches overall against the club.
This will be the third meeting between the sides this season, with their previous MLS meeting ending in a 0-0 draw, before LAFC beat them 3-1 in extra time to clinch the US Open Cup final last month.
That win over Sporting in the final started a three-match winning streak for LAFC, who were winless in their five games prior to that run.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Sporting Kansas City – 28.8%
Draw – 24.5%
LAFC – 46.8%
'Judge us at the end of the season' - Ten Hag adamant Man Utd will improve
Erik ten Hag does not believe Manchester United should be judged too harshly despite their tough start to the season, after snatching a last-gasp draw with Porto.
Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund gave the Red Devils a quickfire lead in Portugal, before Pepe and a double from Samu Omorodion looked to have sealed a turnaround.
Bruno Fernandes was then sent off for the second game in a row, but Harry Maguire came off the bench to ensure United left with a point in the Europa League after a 3-3 draw.
It was their second consecutive draw in the competition, having given up a lead in both, leaving them 21st in the league table.
In fact, United are winless in their last five matches in European competitions (D3 L2) despite leading by 2+ goals in three of them.
Ten Hag continues to come under pressure, with his team now winless in four in all competitions, but he believes the squad have what it takes to turn things around.
"We will get there," he told TNT Sports. "Don't judge us in this moment, judge us at the end of the season.
"We are in the process, we will improve. We have had two seasons where we have reached finals, we will continue and fight.
"You see the spirit and the connection between the staff and the team. The players are together, they have a strong spirit, and they want to achieve. We have a good mentality but in some defending parts we have to step up."
Maguire came on as a 78th-minute substitute and scored his first goal of the season, nodding in from Christian Eriksen's corner in the 91st minute.
The former United captain backed the manager to cope with the added noise surrounding his job once again.
"I've played for this club for six years; I know how it works. When you go on a bad spell players come under pressure and also the manager does," Maguire said.
"He's experienced enough and been at this club long enough, so I'm sure he knows how to deal with it. It's part of the privilege you have playing for this club."
LA Galaxy v Austin FC: Vanney targeting more success for hosts
Greg Vanney has his eyes on finishing top of the Western Conference with LA Galaxy this season, with Austin FC one of the teams in their way of the title.
The Galaxy are currently six points clear in the table with two games left and have won their last two matches against Vancouver Whitecaps and Colorado Rapids.
They are in fine form at home too, winning six in a row, with their last such 'home' defeat coming at the Rose Bowl against Los Angeles FC.
Vanney is enjoying life at the Galaxy this season and hopes they can extend their impressive recent run on Saturday.
"It's a great group of players and this whole season has been helping to read our guys and mould them into the group that can be the best they can be," Vanney said.
"We want them to be a contender for championships, and hopefully we can close this thing out in the West.
"When you're winning everything is better than when you're not, but things with this group are good. They're hungry and want to be successful, it's fun to coach them."
Meanwhile, Austin are mathematically still in with a chance of the playoffs, sitting six points behind Portland Timbers in ninth, though their chances are slim.
They snapped a five-match winless streak with a 1-0 victory over Portland last time out, and Josh Wolff is hopeful they can show the same mentality against the Galaxy.
"I talk to these guys about it all the time," Wolff said. "If there's a collective willingness, we've shown we can beat anybody.
"It has to be extremely committed by the group, and you've got to take care of your opportunities at the other end too."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
LA Galaxy – Gabriel Pec
Gabriel Pec (28) and Riqui Puig (27) each have recorded at least 27 goal contributions this season.
They are only the second pair of teammates to reach that mark in a single season in the last 20 years after Robbie Keane (33) and Landon Donovan (29), also for the Galaxy, in 2014.
Austin FC – Daniel Pereira
On Wednesday against Portland, Daniel Pereira scored his first goal for Austin since June 2022, giving him three goals for his MLS career.
All three of Pereira's MLS goals have come in one-goal victories.
MATCH PREDICTION: LA GALAXY WIN
Austin ended a four-match winless run against LA Galaxy on April 27 with a 2-0 home win. The Galaxy have won all three meetings between the sides in Carson, however, outscoring Austin 8-1 in those games.
Austin have kept a clean sheet on the road in six regular-season matches in 2024, including Wednesday's 1-0 win at Portland. Entering this season, the team had six road shutouts total in their three MLS seasons (two in 2021, four in 2022, none in 2023).
Meanwhile, the Galaxy have won 10 consecutive regular-season matches at Dignity Health Sports Park dating back to late May, scoring multiple goals in all of those matches. The Galaxy have lost only one of their last 25 regular-season matches in Carson, dating back to June 2023.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
LA Galaxy – 55.2%
Draw – 23.1%
Austin FC – 21.7%
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