Football News

Antonio Rudiger claimed his duel against Erling Haaland was going to be "personal" - and the Real Madrid defender duly delivered as he kept the Norwegian quiet.

The Manchester City marksman failed to score in the two games between the sides as the Spanish outfit advanced into the last four of the Champions League. Despite being second best at the Etihad, it was Real who emerged victorious after a penalty shootout.

Rudiger scored the winning spot kick after producing a stellar defensive display with City dominating the second-leg. Haaland hit the bar early on with a looping header but otherwise, across the two legs, was largely contained by the Los Blancos backline.

Before the two matches, former Chelsea man explained his motivation. He said: "It was a good game last year at the Bernabéu. We all did a great job keeping Haaland quiet that evening. And my teammates did a good job keeping [Kevin] De Bruyne quiet. This time, the plan will be to control dangerous players like Phil Foden, De Bruyne, and Haaland... It's personal for me as a defensive player, against a super striker like Haaland."

Pep Guardiola eventually bought his striker off in the second leg on Wednesday night, replacing him with Julian Alvarez. The City boss admitted that Haaland, as well as Kevin De Bruyne, were out of energy and had to be hauled off despite them chasing a winner.

Haaland claimed the treble in his debut year with the Manchester outfit, but won't be backing that up with another Champions League winner's medal. He's scored at an incredible rate on the European stage, but couldn't add to his goal tally against Madrid.

Rudiger, who won the European Cup with Chelsea before heading to the Bernabeu, has claimed that coming up against City's greatest

Kevin De-Bruyne Phil Foden Julian Alvarez Antonio Rudiger Real Madrid