Toni Kroos included in Real Madrid squad to face Liverpool after last-minute U-turn

Real Madrid got a boost ahead of the Champions League round of 16 first leg against Liverpool at Anfield after Toni Kroos flew in from Spain to join the team.

Kroos, 33, had been staying at home along with midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni due to illness but was deemed well enough to travel to England at the last minute.

The German was not included in Carlo Ancelotti’s 23-man starting squad for Tuesday’s game as he continued his recovery from gastroenteritis, which kept him out of his victory in Osasuna at the weekend.

However, Madrid confirmed in a statement just hours before kick-off in Liverpool that Kroos is now in their team after arriving late on Merseyside.

It means Ancelotti now has close to a full squad for the first leg of their round of 16 tie against the Reds, with only Tchouameni and left-back Ferland Mendy out.

Toni Kroos is available for Real Madrid to face Liverpool after a late trip to England

Carlo Ancelotti initially left Kroos out of his squad while he recovered from gastroenteritis

But after a late recovery, the German has been included in Real’s squad at Anfield

While fit enough to travel to England, Kroos has not made it into Ancelotti’s starting line-up and is instead among Real Madrid’s 12 substitutes at Anfield.

He started five of their six Champions League group stage outings, while he has also started 14 games in La Liga this season.

Thibaut Courtois sits behind a line of four made up of Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba.

Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga and Luka Modric line up in a three-man midfield for the visitors, with Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior flanking Karim Benzema in attack.

As for Liverpool, they have named an unchanged squad from the team that won 2-0 at Newcastle on Saturday.

Goalkeeper Alisson will be protected by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson in defense.

Captain Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Stefan Bajcetic make up the midfield, while Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez start up front.

Jurgen Klopp named a Liverpool side unchanged since the weekend’s win at Newcastle

Madrid come into their clash with the Reds in fine form, having posted 4-0 and 2-0 victories over Elche and Osasuna since returning from the Club World Cup.

They became world champions for the fifth time in Morocco, beating Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal 5-3 in the final earlier this month.

Liverpool also appear to have turned around of late after recording back-to-back wins against Merseyside rivals Everton and Newcastle.