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 to 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 Tuesday night but the City and Germany midfielder was positively flattened by a crude challenge from his compatriot that left him in a heap on the ground and requiring checks to his head. Haaland, in a sense, got off lightly on the night.
The thirst with which Rüdiger took to the task was reminiscent of the way he routinely got in Luis Suárez’s face during the two legs of Chelsea’s round of 16 victory over Atletico in 2021.
Suarez lasted less than an hour of the second leg before being dragged off, having been bullied for much of the evening by Rüdiger, a dab hand himself at the dark arts. Stefan Savic was sent off late in that game for elbowing Rüdiger in the chest as they waited for a corner and Rüdiger, of course, ensured he made a meal of his reaction, writhing around on the turf.
On the surface, the statistics would not point to an outstanding display from Rüdiger against Haaland and City. He did not make a tackle in the game and won only a third of his duels and half of his aerial duels.
The best tackle on Haaland was actually from Alaba, a superb sliding recovery challenge in the penalty area in the second half. But what the statistics do not tell you is how great an irritant Rüdiger was to Haaland, and how unsettling his presence was.
Pushing, grappling, shoving, pinching. Rüdiger has the full repertoire. Real limited Haaland to just 21 touches – well below his game average – and, crucially, no goals or clear cut chances.
Rüdiger is the very definition of an alpha male and makes no attempt to hide it, on or off the pitch, where his refusal to back down has won him plenty of admirers but also succeeded in knocking a few noses out of joint.
Kepa Arrizabalaga will vouch for that after a bust-up in training with Rüdiger just days before their quarter-final, first-leg win over Porto. The Chelsea goalkeeper reacted angrily to a late challenge from the defender. It was classic Rüdiger, a player who will not pull out, even against a team-mate.
