Rudiger gets a master's degree in defending Halaand

Antonio Rudiger is an expert at stopping Erling Haaland. Their first meeting took place on 9 May last year, when Manchester City visited Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, which Pep Guardiola's side went on to win. The German stood out with an individual marking that worked to perfection and was true to his particular way of behaving on the pitch.

He had no hesitation in bending down, grabbing him by the hips, lightly hitting him in the back with his chest, grabbing him in any way he could, but it has become a source of absolute frustration on the Norwegian's part. He has hardly been able to get into the Sky Blues' game in their two last meetings.

The second leg of the 2023 semi-final was a good reflection of this. Ancelotti lined up Militao and Alaba, left the former Chelsea man on the bench and Guardiola's side won 4-0. Their attacking star did not beat Courtois on a single occasion, although he enjoyed more prominence.

Rudiger's return had to wait almost a full season. The clash was brought forward to the quarter-finals and did not disappoint the fans at the Santiago Bernabeu. The coaching staff remembered what happened in the recent past and opted again for the German centre-back.

Nullifying the Norwegian is not the sole responsibility of the centre-back, but also of Real Madrid's defensive organisation, which conceded three goals anyway. Silva stunned Andriy Lunin with a free-kick from the edge of the area after just two minutes and Foden and Gvardiol added the other goals to England's tally with superb strikes.

The merit of his strikes is evidence of his quality, but also of Manchester City's inability to exploit the most recurrent route in their routine and the one that took them to the European throne last season: the balls between the lines to Erling Haaland.

 

April 9, 2024