REAL MADRID LYNCHPIN RUDIGER DECISIVE AGAINST MANCHESTER CITY
Antonio Rudiger put Real Madrid into the Champions League semi-finals, not only by scoring the winning penalty against Manchester City on Wednesday, but also by keeping Erling Haaland quiet across the tie.
The German defender’s two strong displays against City’s Norwegian hitman helped Madrid hold their own across 210 minutes of thrilling quarter-final action, ending in a 4-4 aggregate draw before the shoot-out.
He will now concentrate on the El Clasico against Barcelona in LaLiga on Sunday, while City tackle Chelsea in the English FA Cup semi-finals tomorrow and Manchester United take on Coventry City in the other semi-final on Sunday.
After veteran Madrid star Luka Modric missed for Madrid and their goalkeeper, Andriy Lunin, denied Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic, Rudiger completed the 4-3 penalty triumph over the reigning champions.
The centre-back strolled calmly up to the penalty spot and drilled a low effort in off the post, beating Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson even though he dived the right way.
Rudiger, who joined from Chelsea in 2022, is one of the few players in Madrid’s squad yet to win the Champions League with Los Blancos, but he did lift it in 2021 with the Blues.
After Rodrygo’s early goal, City dominated but Madrid’s defence, marshalled by Rudiger and captain Nacho Fernandez, stayed afloat.
Rudiger excelled last season in the 1-1 semi-final first leg draw with City at the Santiago Bernabeu. However, coach Carlo Ancelotti dropped him for the second leg and Madrid were hammered 4-0 by Pep Guardiola’s rampant side, who went on to win the trophy for the first time.
Ancelotti accepted his mistake and confirmed on Tuesday Rudiger would be starting against City at the Etihad Stadium this time.
Meanwhile, FA Cup replays will be scrapped from the first round onwards from next season as part of an agreement with the Premier League, the Football Association announced yesterday.
The FA had already dropped replays from the fifth round onwards and said the move to ditch them altogether had been agreed “in light of changes to the calendar driven by the expanded Uefa [European] competitions”.
From next season the Champions League will feature an extra 64 games, creating increased pressure on the domestic calendar.