"He can do whatever he likes with him": Kroos hails FCB star

TONI KROOS

Toni Kroos has heaped praise on Michael Olise's performance in the spectacular 5–4 clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.

"Simply impressive," Kroos said of Olise's first-half display on his podcast, Einfach mal Luppen. The French right winger teed up Luis Díaz for the penalty-winning foul (20'), forced an almost-own goal from João Neves (32'), and then slid in the equaliser after a spectacular run to make it 2–2 (41').

Nuno Mendes, widely regarded as the world's best left-back, struggled to contain Olise. "He does whatever he likes against what I consider to be the best left-back in the world," Kroos remarked. Yet, in the recent past, Mendes had "had the measure of plenty of good right-wingers". Kroos speculated that the 23-year-old Portuguese player must have thought: "Damn, here's someone I'm not physically better than – and that's a tough one."

With consistently impressive performances, Olise has put himself in the Ballon d'Or conversation this season; in 47 competitive matches, the 24-year-old has scored 20 goals and provided 29 assists.

French TV pundit Christophe Dugarry even drew parallels between Olise and Zinedine Zidane after the gala match against PSG. "I may be stretching it, but this kid has a bit of 'Zizou' about him: the laid-back way he controls the ball, uses his body, drifts between the lines, and reads the game," Dugarry told RMC.

Michael Olise is not the only player being lauded after the 5–4 thriller.

Overall, an international panel of experts remained divided on the standout performer in Saturday's spectacular 5-4 thriller. Mats Hummels labelled Munich winger Luis Díaz "the best player on the pitch", while Clarence Seedorf went further, hailing PSG left-winger Kvicha Kvaratskhelia as "the best player in the world". Meanwhile, UEFA awarded the Man of the Match honour to reigning World Player of the Year Ousmane Dembélé. 

The second leg between Bayern and PSG is scheduled for next Wednesday at 9 pm at Munich's Allianz Arena.