Kroos leery of Klopp's Liverpool after Bayern's struggles with Dortmund
Real Madrid midfield lynchpin Toni Kroos is not taking Liverpool and its impassioned manager Jurgen Klopp lightly.
Few know better than the World Cup winner after his former side, Bayern Munich, faced Klopp's Borussia Dortmund on seven occasions, with Kroos coming out on the winning end just once.
"My experience of him is it is always tough to play his teams," Kroos said Tuesday, per AFP. "When we played against his team, it was difficult. We always had a lot of problems against Dortmund. Always.
"That is what I expect on Saturday also. His teams are always aggressive, they press you a lot - for 90 minutes. They are highly motivated," he added.
Highly motivated may be an understatement as Klopp has turned a motley crew of potent attackers, role players, and youngsters into a Champions League finalist in his third year in charge of the Merseyside giant.
Klopp is no stranger to this stage of major competition, and after coming up short in the League Cup and Europa League finale in 2015-16, the former Mainz man is looking to improve on a spotty record that has seen him taste defeat in all five major finals he's appeared in.
"I hope his record doesn't change," Kroos admitted. "I didn't know that fact but to reach a final is difficult enough."