Kroos, 33, has made 417 appearances for Real Madrid, including 30 in La Liga and 12 in the Champions League last season.

The 2014 World Cup winner joined from Bayern Munich in 2014 and has won 20 trophies with the club.

Over his nine seasons as a Real Madrid player, he has won four Champions Leagues, five Club World Cups, four European Super Cups, three La Liga titles, a Copa del Rey and three Spanish Super Cups.

Last season he helped Real to the Copa del Rey title and the Champions League semi-final, where they were knocked out by Manchester City.

He will be joined in midfield next season by Real’s summer signing from Borussia Dortmund, England midfielder Jude Bellingham.

The post Toni Kroos signs one-year contract extension with La Liga champions, Real Madrid appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

Title-holders FC Barcelona scraped a 1-0 win at third-tier Cultural Leonesa thanks to Clement Lenglet’s late header, while Girona earned a 2-2 draw at Alaves.

Getafe won 2-1 at Cordoba and Valladolid earned a 2-1 away win over Mallorca in other round of 32 first-leg clashes.

In Real Madrid’s first match since Julen Lopetegui was sacked after a dire run capped by a 5-1 loss to FC Barcelona on Sunday, Solari’s side flexed their muscles against Melilla.

Solari saved the likes of Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos the trip to the north coast of Africa and the Spanish enclave of Melilla.

But he did start with captain Sergio Ramos and French striker Karim Benzema against the third division minnows.

Benzema, who has struggled for form this season, broke the deadlock from close range after being teed up by Alvaro Odriozola, with Vinicius Junior setting up Marco Asensio for the second.

Brazilian striker Vinicius, largely ignored by Lopetegui, struck the crossbar in search of the third, which was eventually bundled in by Odriozola, another player who struggled to get minutes under Lopetegui.

Substitute Cristo Gonzalez added a fourth in stoppage time to give Solari a convincing debut win for his side who are ninth in La Liga.

“The team played with smiles on their faces, they were keen and committed. The final score is a result of that,” Solari told reporters.

“It wasn’t easy, but we worked hard and played with those characteristics. The pitch was heavy and they pressed very high.

“We have to be happy. The players are committed to the shirt and to the fans who are with them. I’m now a part of this group.”

Record 30-times Cup winners FC Barcelona were on the back foot against Cultural Leonesa, with goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen making some smart saves to keep Ernesto Valverde’s heavily-rotated side level.

Lenglet headed Ousmane Dembele’s free kick home at the near post in stoppage time to earn the Catalans a narrow advantage heading into the second leg, with matches taking place between Dec. 4 and Dec. 6.

The post Real Madrid crush Melilla in Solari’s first game, as Barca scrape Cup win appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

Ola Toivonen’s deft first-half lob had left Joachim Low’s side facing elimination but Marco Reus, starting in place of Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil, prodded in an equaliser as Germany assumed control after the interval.

The champions then had Jerome Boateng sent off late on for a second yellow card but continued to chase the game knowing a draw left their fate in others’ hands.

And they were rewarded in the final minute of five added on when Kroos tapped a free-kick short to Marco Reus before sweeping the return pass into the top right corner from left of the penalty area.

The magnitude of the moment saw the euphoric German players run to rejoice in front of their own fans while the Sweden players slumped to the floor, some close to tears.

There were also angry exchanges in the technical area with Sweden’s manager Janne Anderson upset by the exuberance of the celebrations in front of him.

The result means all four teams in Group F can still qualify for the next phase, with the outcome to be decided at venues 600 miles apart on Wednesday 27 June (15:00 BST) when Mexico face Sweden in Ekaterinburg and Germany play South Korea in Kazan.

At half-time it looked as though it was to be a black night for Germany in Sochi, the southernmost venue at the tournament, over 1,000 miles from Moscow, on the coast of the Black Sea.

It seemed perfectly possible that Germany could lose back-to-back games at a finals for the first time since 1958 and become the fourth champions in the past five tournaments to exit at the first-round stage.

But with Low urging his side on from the technical area there was a noticeable increase in tempo following the introduction of Mario Gomez at the interval.

And when Gomez was unable to reach Timo Werner’s cross, Reus followed up to level the score, restore some belief to the rattled Germans and visibly relieve the tension on manager and supporters inside the Fisht Olympic Stadium.

The post Toni Kroos’ injury-time winner rescues Germany from early ouster appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.