Is It Too Early For Rudiger To Start Getting Worried At Real Madrid

Last season, German international, Antonio Rudiger was widely regarded as one of the best defenders in the world due to his excellent displays at the heart of Chelsea’s defence. The Blues won two trophies and got to the finals of the League Cup and FA Cup, losing both to Liverpool on penalties, before a very painful loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League, a game in which Rudiger scored in. However, due to the uncertainty about the club based on its ownership, it opened the door for Rudiger to leave Stamford Bridge on a free transfer to join Spanish giants, Real Madrid.

At 29, it was the perfect time to join the European champions, and it was expected that he’d add steel to the Los Blancos backline. As is Real Madrid custom, he has already won a trophy, lifting the European Super Cup, but he hasn’t immediately walked into the Real Madrid starting eleven. Many expected Rudiger to play alongside Eder Militao in central defence, with David Alaba moving to left back, a familiar position to him given that’s where he achieved legendary status with Bayern Munich. However, it has not gone to script for Rudiger, as he has to make do with the odd minutes here and there at the Santiago Bernabeu, with the manager, Carlo Ancelotti preferring the Alaba-Militao partnership that delivered the league and Champions League double last term.

The sight of Rudiger sitting on the bench begs the question as to whether Carlo Ancelotti was the one that sanctioned the deal in the first place. In their recent game against Celta Vigo away at Balaidos, Rudiger replaced Dani Carvajal at right-back in the 69th minute, before moving into centre-back when Lucas Vasquez replaced David Alaba in the 77th minute. In the Super Cup game against Frankfurt in Helsinki, he played only 6 minutes though he played all 90 minutes in the league opener against Almeria. While it might be too soon for Rudiger to enter Carlo Ancelotti’s office for showdown talks, he must show the manager he deserves to start by doing well in training.

With the World Cup fast approaching and competition for places in the German national team at fever-pitch, it won’t augur well for Rudiger to be a bench player. He has never shied away from a challenge, with many struggling to believe how he came back from the dark days of Frank Lampard’s tenure to become an immovable force of Thomas Tuchel’s Champions League-winning juggernaut. He will take this as another challenge, and it won’t be surprising to see him playing week-in, week-out at the Santiago Bernabeu. Antonio Rudiger didn’t go to Real Madrid to sit on the bench, but only time will tell. For every Casemiro who was not supposed to start but became a mainstay of the team for many years, there’s also an Eden Hazard who was supposed to start but has become an afterthought. The dice are in the hands of Rudiger.

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