FC Barcelona won the first trophy of the 2025/26 season last Sunday as they beat Real Madrid 3-2 to win the Spanish Super Cup for the second year in a row. Having won all three domestic trophies last ...
FC Barcelona won the first trophy of the 2025/26 season last Sunday as they beat Real Madrid 3-2 to win the Spanish Super Cup for the second year in a row.
Having won all three domestic trophies last season, fans believe this could be the moment for the club to secure the long-awaited sixth UEFA Champions League title, 11 years after lifting the trophy for the last time.
However, former Real Madrid midfielder and German legend Toni Kroos seems to think otherwise.
Kroos believes Barcelona will come up short in Europe
Speaking on the podcast Einfach mal Luppen (h/t SPORT), which he co-hosts with his brother Felix Kroos, the former Madrid midfielder explained that he holds the same opinion as last season regarding Barcelona’s prospects in Europe.
His brother said that “They are still very happy with the Spanish Super Cup, but now the Champions League is coming up for Barcelona, where they will be playing against top-level opponents.”
Barcelona won the Super Cup, but Kroos believes they might come short in Europe. (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)
At this point, the former Real Madrid midfielder interrupted to state his view, saying: “They are not going to win any international titles, at least that’s what I think.”
As he himself pointed out, this is not the first time Kroos has expressed a similar view.
Earlier this season, after PSG’s win over Barcelona, he commented that the Catalans “had to be smarter,” because in his view “if you are tired and do not change your style of play, it becomes very obvious how exposed you are”.
Even so, this stance does not mean Kroos fails to acknowledge Barcelona’s level. In October, he told El Chiringuito that Flick’s team play “one of the most attractive styles of football in Europe… the most attractive in Europe”.
That said, he later insisted that “I also think that at Barcelona they take so many risks… On a bad day for Pedri, Lamine Yamal or Raphinha, any team can hurt them and eliminate them from the Champions League.”
Category: General Sports
