Due to Toni Kroos’ brilliant pass setting up the first goal in Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Bayern Munich, Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior claimed it was “easy” to score the first goal.

In the twenty-fourth minute, Vini broke the tie and became the fourth player in the history of the Champions League—after Jari Litmanen, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Kevin De Bruyne—to score a goal in the semifinals in three consecutive seasons. He finished calmly, finishing with his right foot past the charging Manuel Neuer, but he was all over the defence-splitting pass from Kroos when it was all over.

“Toni always makes things easy,” Vinicius said to Movistar, the host broadcast.

“He gave me a purpose. In training, we put in a lot of joint practice. Both Toni and I are well acquainted. My happiness at scoring two goals is immense. We now require a magical evening at home.”

When pressed by media in the mixed zone about the assist, Kroos responded with humility and dismissal, stating that it “wasn’t so special.”

“Vini’s mobility allowed me to make the pass. He created the opening,” the midfielder remarked.

Ahead of the second leg in Spain the following week, the tie is finely poised. With the support of their home crowd, Madrid has a tiny advantage at the halfway point with an aggregate score of 2-2. But after Bayern had taken the lead through goals from Harry Kane and Leroy Sane early in the second half, it required another Vinicius penalty goal in the dying minutes to tie the score.

Madrid will be hopeful Jude Bellingham’s situation doesn’t cause any long-term problems. The England player played just 75 minutes in Munich after cramping up an hour into the match. He was not used as a substitute for Real Sociedad’s La Liga victory last Friday due to illness.

With just five La Liga games remaining and an 11-point lead over Barcelona, Carlo Ancelotti should be able to carefully control his team’s freshness and level of fitness ahead of Cadiz’s weekend visit.