The statistics would not point to an outstanding display from Rudiger against City, but his use of the dark arts was hugely effective
There was one moment, in particular, that neatly encapsulated the relish with which Antonio Rüdiger tackled one of the least envious tasks in football. Thrusting his head under Erling Haaland’s right armpit, like a rugby player jockeying for position in a scrum, the Real Madrid defender brought new meaning to the phrase “touch tight”. And then, when Haaland moved his arm away to try and wriggle free of what must have felt like the footballing equivalent of a parking clamp, the Manchester City striker found Rüdiger had merely switched sides and was busy trying to nestle himself under arm pit No 2. Call it aggressive human bunting.
Of all the personal duels during City’s riveting Champions League semi-final, first leg against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Tuesday night, few were as intriguing as Rüdiger’s battle with Haaland, a challenge that has filled many defenders with dread this season yet the kind for which the former Chelsea man lives.
“It’s a semi-final, everyone is playing to the limit, every challenge is a war,” said Dani Carvajal, the Real right-back stationed next to Rüdiger, who would doubtless agree with those sentiments.
Few do colossal nuisance quite as well as Rüdiger and, as Haaland discovered to his detriment, the higher the stakes and the bigger the occasion, the better the snarling Germany international tends to be.
It would have been interesting to see if Carlo Ancelotti had opted to start Rüdiger had Eder Militao, his first-choice centre-half, not been suspended. Indeed, one of the biggest decisions the Real coach will face ahead of next Wednesday’s second leg at the Etihad Stadium is whether to bring back Militao, or keep faith with Rüdiger and David Alaba. In combination, they excelled against Europe’s most free-scoring striker, and Haaland, for one, will doubtless hope Rüdiger makes way for Militao. It is hard to see, though.
In fact, there is a strong case to say Rüdiger should be one of the first names on Ancelotti’s team-sheet next week, not that anyone of a Real persuasion is getting carried away with the notion that they have found the foolproof secret to shutting out City’s goal machine.
“Both Alaba and Rüdiger were very good,” Carvajal said. “Let’s not say that too loud, though, because there’s still a return leg. But the team was very good defensively.”
Rüdiger’s performance will have brought back fond memories for Chelsea at the same time as reminding them of what they lost when the 30-year-old joined Real on a free transfer last summer. He excelled in their run to Champions League glory two seasons ago, when his utterly uncompromising brand of defending and win at all costs attitude provided the cornerstone for their success.
Chelsea conceded just once in the knockout stages that year, overcoming Atletico Madrid, Porto, Real – who could not help but be impressed by Rüdiger – and, of course, Pep Guardiola’s City in the final when the German’s huge physical presence was felt most painfully by Kevin De Bruyne. The City midfielder suffered an acute fracture of the nose and an orbital fracture to his left eye socket after running into a Rüdiger road block. Ilkay Gundogan did not come off as badly on…
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