Carlo Ancelotti confident of knocking PSG out, Kroos will only play if fully fit

Carlo Ancelotti is hopeful that Real Madrid will knock Paris Saint-Germain out of the UEFA Champions League and says Toni Kroos will only play when he is healthy.

PSG will start the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday with a 1-0 win over Kylian Mbappe’s late goal three weeks ago.

Madrid could face a huge challenge to reach the quarter-finals if Thibaut Courtois did not save Lionel Messi’s penalty kick at Parc des Princes.

LaLiga leaders Madrid will be without suspended Casemiro against Mauricio Pochettino’s side and midfielder Kroos missed out on a 4-1 loss to Real Sociedad on Saturday due to a hamstring injury.

Kroos is back in training, but Ancelotti declined to say whether he will play with former Italian bosses.

“If a player is not 100% equal he cannot play, we have to wait and see,” he said.

Los Blancos have won three games in a row since their defeat in the French capital and Ancelotti believes the race will continue.

The former PSG coach said: “We want to stay alive in this tournament. He is great to us, great to the team. We do not want to be excluded from such an important tournament.

“Life will go on and I hope we can still compete. I’m confident we will get in, but PSG will also be confident.”

Madrid looks unstoppable in their bid to win LaLiga and Ancelotti hopes it will not be the only trophy they can win this season.

“I think we have a good season, it has been good so far and every time we do something there is always a ‘but’,” he added.

“If Karim [Benzema] doesn’t score goals, there are ‘but’, there are a lot of ideas out there. I think we have a good season and I hope that in the last two months we can finish the season on top.”

Benzema says Madrid are hurt by their defeat in the French capital but do not expect any more pain if Los Blancos play with all their might.

The striker explained: “We are a proud team and that defeat hurt us, but we know that the best Real Madrid can compete with the best PSG. We saw PSG in the first leg and hopefully we will see Real Madrid in the lead on Wednesday.”