Real Madrid and German centre-back, Antonio Rudiger has vouchsafed his honest view about life at the Spanish capital.
The former Chelsea man, Rudiger, revealed his take on the fourteen time Champions League winners ahead of their second leg encounter with Liverpool on Wednesday.
Rudiger on playing at Real Madrid:
“When you play against Real Madrid last year, you feel that the Santiago Bernabeu is something different, the fans and the players they rise up to big occasions, big matches and the experience in big matches. For me, it’s just an honour to be part of that and grow and learn from other experienced players like Karim Benzema, Modric and Toni Kroos”
“To be honest, given the history of this club, it’s not easy to play here at Real Madrid because, a lot of great players, a lot of pressure, but I think at the end of the day, you grow with that, you learn and that’s how I see it”.
Antonio Rudiger’s season at Real Madrid
Rudiger made a bold move to switch sides, moving from the London side to the Spanish giants on a free transfer. Since his advent at Carlos Ancelotti’s side, the 30-year old has become an integral part of the Italian manager’s team as expected.
Rudiger has featured in 36 games across all competitions this season out of Madrid’s total of 41 games. He ranks as the player with the fifth highest number of appearances for Los Blancos this campaign behind Eduardo Camavinga and Federico Valverde(40), Vinicius Jr (39) and Rodrygo(37).
The defender has two goals this season, the first coming in Madrid’s 4-1 league win over Mallorca in September and the second in Los Blancos’ 1-1 draw against Shaktar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League in October. Rudiger is a solid centre-back who has the conventional synergistic combination of strength and physicality. According to one vs one, Rudiger has an amazing pass completion rate of 94% and 75% challenges won ranking second and fifth in the La Liga respectively.
UEFA Champions League holders, Real Madrid are set to take on Liverpool at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday where they are expected to finish what they started at Anfield. With a 5-2 advantage coming into the match, a conservative approach to the tie would get the job done for Los Blancos. With Madrid winning on aggregate, it’s very possible Rudiger gets to make one more trip to the Stamford Bridge to take on his former teammates if they are eventually drawn against one another.
Main image credit Embed from Getty Images
