One of the matches, a priori, more attractive that world football could offer these days, the one that Real Madrid and Manchester City tied 1-1 on Tuesday for the first leg of one of the semifinals of the Champions League, had an unexpected hero. Because among the stars who stepped on the pitch of the Santiago Bernabéu stood out a man who more than fulfilled a very complicated mission: Antonio Rüdiger, responsible for neutralizing the Norwegian Erling Haaland.
The German central scorer was chosen by Carlo Ancelotti to replace the Brazilian Éder Militão, suspended for accumulation of yellow cards, and also to assume the mark of Haaland, the top scorer in Europe this season: he arrived at the Bernabéu with a record of 51 goals in 46 games (including 12 shouts in 8 Champions League matches).
Against all the pessimistic forecasts, which predicted a night of nightmares, the Teutonic defender neutralized the Scandinavian giant. To do this, he embarked on a physical battle in which he seemed destined for defeat, but in which he ended up imposing himself with more skill and concentration than strength.
After a start that forced to turn on the alarms, with two shots that did not get to put in serious problems to the Belgian Thibaut Courtois, Haaland was deflating with the passing of the minutes. To a large extent, that was due to the suffocating mark of Rüdiger, who chased him all over the field, even when the attacker went down to the center circle to make contact with the ball.
The former Chelsea defender was very well supported by his teammate, Austrian David Alaba. But it was he who took the biggest ovations from the public in the Madrid coliseum. After this work, Ancelotti will surely hesitate before deciding if Éder Militão regains the starting job or if Rüdiger returns to play from the start in next Wednesday's rematch at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
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