Champions League: Hargreaves hail Kroos, Bellingham and Vinicius performances for average Madrid victory over Leipzig

Former England star Owen Hargreaves says Real Madrid's "world-class" talent can change matches "in the blink of an eye". Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, and Toni Kroos combined for the Madrid goal that put them ahead against RB Leipzig, despite the former England international dubbing them as "bang average" throughout the last 16 tie. "It’s really special," Hargreaves said.

Real Madrid were “bang average” against RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League, but their “world-class” talent made the difference in the tie, according to Owen Hargreaves.

Carlo Ancelotti's side scraped past the German side and moved into the quarter-finals following a 2-1 aggregate scoreline, which concluded with a 1-1 second-leg draw at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.

Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr, and Toni Kroos combined excellently for the goal that put Madrid into the lead in the 65th minute before Willi Orban quickly equalised for the visitors to keep them in contention.

But Madrid held on to progress to the last eight, and Hargreaves hailed the Madrid goal that ultimately made all the difference.

“It’s a world-class goal from three world-class players,” Hargreaves told TNT Sports.

“Toni Kroos initially, Jude Bellingham [with the assist], and then the finish, the weight of the pass, everything about it was top drawer.

“Real Madrid were bang average over the two games but when you have world-class players like that who can decide a game in the blink of an eye and recognise it, it’s really special.”

The end-to-end move started with Kroos intercepting a pass on the edge of the Madrid box, before laying it off to Bellingham to charge up the pitch through the midfield.

Vinicius peeled off the left flank and darted into the box as Bellingham slipped a perfectly weighted pass into the Brazilian to strike first time beyond Peter Gulacsi.

“There are so many details in that goal,” Hargreaves added. “I think Carlo Ancelotti plays for that. He knew they were going to get those moments and it came.”

Leipzig had 20 shots during the match compared to Madrid’s 11 and enjoyed most of the action in front of the opposition box.

They finally got their goal, but only after Madrid took the lead. However, Peter Crouch believes Marco Rose’s side could have knocked out the 14-time Champions had they taken their chances in the tie.

“It was what they deserved,” Crouch said on TNT Sports as he reviewed Orban’s equaliser.

“I think a lot of them [Leipzig players] were very, very upset after the game because you could see, throughout the two legs, they could have beaten Real Madrid with the chances they had.

“Unfortunately, they just didn’t take them.”