Antonio Rüdiger: The Defender Who Toppled Manchester City
The German international unveiled a more human side to Haaland, helped Lunin save a penalty, and scored the decisive one for Real Madrid. He did it all.
The standout in Real Madrid's passage to the Champions League semi-finals is undoubtedly Antonio Rüdiger. He scored the decisive penalty that brought down the reigning champions, but he did much more than that.
The German defender excelled in what he does best: defending. And not only when Real Madrid defended deep to survive at the Etihad against a relentless City side, but he also revealed a more mortal side to Haaland.
And not just in one, but in two games. 180 minutes in which the Norwegian forward went unnoticed, largely thanks to Rüdiger's excellent performance. In fact, in the second leg, Haaland lost more balls (14) than he played without error (11).
His shining moment came in the penalty shootout, but before converting the fifth and decisive penalty that sent Real Madrid through, he helped Lunin save Kovacic's spot-kick.
Rüdiger and Kovacic played together at Chelsea, so he knew where his former teammate was likely to place his penalty. He signaled to the Ukrainian goalkeeper where to dive, and Lunin followed his advice, saving the penalty. Then came Rüdiger's moment, and he didn't miss. So much for defenders not having a leading role.
