Toni Kroos says Carlo Ancelotti is the best coach he ever played under.

The former midfielder announced his shock retirement in May 2024 and hung up his boots after Germany's Euro 2024 semi-final exit to Spain.

He marked the end of his time at Real Madrid by winning the LaLiga title and a fifth Champions League under Ancelotti, capping a trophy-laden 10 years in the Spanish capital.

Kroos made 731 appearances at club level across his spells with Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and Madrid, with 200 of those coming under Ancelotti across his two spells.

He also played under the likes of Pep Guardiola, Louis van Gaal and Zinedine Zidane, who he made the most appearances under (209), but Kroos highlighted the Italian as his favourite.

"Carlo Ancelotti is the best as far as I'm concerned," he said.

"Working with Carlo Ancelotti was a truly wonderful experience.

"He always gave us the freedom and didn't tell us what we should or shouldn't do, because he trusted our quality and instinct."

Ancelotti also recently praised Kroos' humility, telling the Rest is Football podcast: "I had the luck to find in the second period when there was [Cristiano] Ronaldo, when there was Sergio Ramos, I was lucky to find the team without ego, for example.

"There were fantastic players like [Luka] Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos, [Dani] Carvajal, Karim Benzema, without ego."