CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Kroos control

TONI’S TURKEY SHOOT GETS MADRID FIRING

TONI KROOS lifted the pressure on boss Zinedine Zidane as Real Madrid got their Champions League campaign going at last.

With Jose Mourinho on Real’s radar to replace Zidane if their fortunes in Europe get any worse, Kroos led the way to claim a first win in Group A.

Defeat would have left them facing elimination in the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in 23 years.

But nerves were settled in the 18th minute by cool Kroos, who bagged his ninth Champions League goal. Karim Benzema broke quickly and slipped in Eden Hazard, who has disappointed since arriving from Chelsea in the summer.

The Belgian found space to tee up Kroos (right) and the German’s shot took a looping deflection off on-loan Fulham man Jean-michael Seri.

In fact, Hazard was at the centre of most of Madrid’s good work, answering the critics at his new club.

Real have won five out of nine games in La Liga but slipped off top spot at the weekend by losing to Majorca.

The Turks fielded six former Premier League stars, with Brighton loanee Florin Andone forcing two early saves from Thibaut Courtois, the second from a clever free-kick.

The wobbly Real defence was breached again when Ryan Babel was also played clear but he fluffed his first touch.

Real dominated after the break, with Benzema combining well with Hazard, releasing him to fire against the bar in the 65th minute.

The Turkish crowd were typically raucous throughout but the noise around Zidane’s future was silenced, for the time being at least.