Antonio Rüdiger closes the circle

There are no records in Antonio Rüdiger's career of penalties taken during the 90 minutes, or even extra time, of a match. His thing is the rounds and, furthermore, the final part of them, when the most gifted or preferred shooters have already gone through the electric chair or have declined the offer, like Fede Valverde at the Etihad. German only appears in those moments in which tension confuses everything.

In Manchester, he emerged from that abyss, gave City a boost and, above all, closed a personal circle. A year ago, he was the one sacrificed in the 4-0 after tying Erling Haaland short in the first leg, and in this one he once again reduced the Norwegian in both matches and scored the decisive bingo from 11 meters. More wood for the great growth of it.

Before this Wednesday's

thriller

, there was only evidence of two maximum penalties from him in professional football, according to the database of the international company Opta, which covers in this section since 2013-14. Both, in sudden death. In August 2021, in the European Super Cup against Villarreal, he was the seventh Chelsea player to face Sergio Asenjo. He sent it to his right and scored. The next one to make the pass was Raúl Albiol, Kepa stopped him and the

blues

won the title (6-5).

Six months later, Rüdiger was also not among Chelsea's first throwers in the League Cup final against Liverpool. He was the sixth. Again, when he tightened the rope the most. He also outwitted the goalkeeper, Caoimhín Kelleher, sent it to his left, and scored. The trophy, yes, was lifted by the

Reds

because Kepa – once again the protagonist – missed the eleventh shot of an endless series (10-11). The Basque had left alone for that moment, just like the Villarreal night.

And against City, third shot in his career and inside. He was not in the top five either, but Valverde said that he could not live with him and the fifth turn fell to Rüdiger, who offered himself to the cause. Although his work in the shootout began a few minutes earlier, when Mateo Kovacic approached the ball. The Croatian is his best friend in football. They coincided for three seasons at Chelsea, but when the time came to cross the gorge, the German did not pay attention to sentimentality and raised his arm from a distance to Lunin to tell him to go to the right. There he hit the Balkan and there the Ukrainian took it.

His key intervention in the Etihad shootout after once again winning the melee with Haaland raised the overall grade of his course even further. He started in August where he was, in the slipstream of Militão and Alaba, but the Brazilian's serious injury opened a window that he ended up occupying completely. He has received the trust of the coaching staff and they have been grateful that the German has known how to correct himself to avoid some small disconnections that sometimes hindered him. A problem that he already had from his time at Chelsea.

Nothing has represented his rise better than the clashes with Haaland. Last year's one helped him gain leverage and these two recent ones have underpinned his best months in Madrid. In the preparation for the tie, there have been no major developments in marking planning. “I take on the mourning personally,” Rüdiger had proclaimed in the first leg, who asked to control the supply of passes to the striker.

The stick from a year ago

In the three meetings against the Norwegian in the last year, the forward has not scored and has barely accumulated four shots on goal. This Wednesday, yes, he sent one to the post. In the sum of the three games, he has not even reached one expected goal (0.94). A week ago, he stayed at 0.07. This Wednesday, at the beginning of the extension, he asked for the change. Rüdiger's only concession in the middle of the tidal wave, beyond the clear missed chance in extra time, was the soft clearance that caused the tie.

“Yes, yes, he is going to play the second leg,” Ancelotti responded with a laugh last Saturday. The question was related, or that's how the Italian took it, from the center back's absence a year ago in the 4-0. A decision in which the coach, by action or omission, played the game. Militão was returning from a suspension, so there was one left over. They asked Carletto four days before if the German would play at the Etihad after his great marking on Haaland at the Bernabéu and, from his response, everyone understood that he would. Until the coach revealed in Manchester that he thought they had asked him about Rodrygo. He had let the little mess slide and Rüdiger was finally a substitute. “The coach didn't apologize to me and he doesn't have to. I have to accept it, although it was complicated,” the German confessed a few days ago.

This time, there were no doubts or confusions. He first led a defense that survived a siege and then appeared for the third time in the 11 meters to close the agony.

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