A video clip of Real Madrid’s Antonio Rudiger close-marking Manchester City’s Erling Haaland in the champions league match got many fans laughing.
Antonio Rudiger was all out for Erling Haaland so as not to give the striker a chance with the ball – probably that was Madrid’s best defense to stop Haaland from scoring a goal.
The match at Bernabeu during the Champions League semi-final, first leg saw Rudiger deliberately sticking on Haaland like glue.
Other times, he ducks down under Haaland’s armpit and wraps his arm around him.
Despite Haaland’s efforts to keep him off, Rudiger repeats the same trick on the other side of his body, forcing Haaland to deploy an arm and elbow to force him away.
Eventually, Rudiger moves away but the very close-tackling might have served its purpose already.
However, even if his efforts paid off, as Haaland did not score, De Bruyne did, nilling off Vinicius Junior’s goal to ensure the two teams meet at the Etihad Stadium for next Wednesday’s return.
Halland also ended the match with only 11 passes, 21 touches, two shots on target, and another blocked shot.