Toni Kroos gives surprising first answer to name best Premier League clubs

Toni Kroos could have named any Premier League club, and could have chosen any of his team’s Champions League rivals, but he made a very surprising choice.

Kroos, and his Real Madrid team-mates, face Chelsea on Wednesday night in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.

The Whites will be looking to clinch a 14th European title, but to do so they will arguably have the toughest route, as they face the defending champions, then last season’s runners-up Manchester City and possibly Liverpool in final.

Under these conditions, one would think that these three English teams are at the forefront of the thoughts of their players, including Kroos, but this is apparently not the case.

The former Bayern Munich midfielder was asked to name nine teams from England’s top flight and he didn’t even name one of the big six, namely third-placed Tottenham Hotspur and fifth-placed Chelsea.

Most fans wouldn’t have expected Burnley to be named by Kroos in his list of nine, let alone to be named first.

There’s little reason Sean Dyche’s side should be on the World Cup-winning midfielder’s mind unless he really takes notice of England’s relegation zone.

Things are certainly heating up towards the bottom half, with the Clarets taking on relegation rivals Everton in a big six-point game on Wednesday night.

If they manage to win, the Lancashire club could find themselves one point behind Frank Lampard’s team, nine days from the end of the season.

If Kroos and his teammates arrive in Paris on May 28, after the final was moved from St Petersburg following Russia’s attack on Ukraine, it could be the last without a grand opening ceremony.

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi says Europe’s most important soccer final needs to up its game in order to be as « big » as the NFL’s Super Bowl.

The Qatari, who is now president of the European Club Association, said the annual American football final seemed to be more important than the American football one.

The 400 million people who watch the match can have arguments…