Spanish newspaper Marca highlighted one of Real Madrid’s players, describing him as Ancelotti’s indestructible soldier, and heaped praise on him, highlighting his numbers since the beginning of the season until now.
Only Carlo Ancelotti knows what he owes to Antonio Rüdiger and the brutal effort he is making to hold out game after game. The German centre-back, a fixture in the Real Madrid formation thanks to his strength and leadership, is the player who has played the most minutes on the pitch ( 1,987′ ). Head of the Real Madrid defence, assuming the left-footed profile despite being right-footed, Antonio has not hesitated to stand up for the team while suffering from osteoarthritis in one of his knees that limits his performance and could force him to stop at any moment… although to date this has not been the case.
The centre-back has played in all 23 of his team’s games , only coming on as a substitute against Espanyol after coming on in the 84th minute, and has played all the minutes possible in the 22 games he has started. In addition, Rüdiger has another three games for Germany , fewer than possible because he agreed with his coach not to travel during the September break , which means a total of 26 games and 2,257 minutes on the pitch . His circumstances are different, because he has gone from first substitute to starter with the injuries of Alaba and Militao .
A full-blown thank you
However, Rüdiger’s contribution should not be calculated only on the basis of the minutes played . He is a differential character, with a smile that accompanies him wherever he goes and a leader within a dressing room that dances to the tune of his overwhelming charisma . The data show that he is at the limit of his strength (71 games out of 78 games played since last season) and Ancelotti knows it perfectly . He knows that even if he is more resistant and competitive than anyone else… he will have to stop at some point. The calendar and the results have not allowed it so far so there has been no other option than to use his leader in the axis of the defence. Only the tragedy of the DANA ‘allowed’ the German to take a breath with that postponed game against Valencia.
So, among the Italian coach’s prayers, one of the most repeated is to try to give his player a rest . At the moment he has not been able to allow himself that luxury, but his gestures of gratitude are almost more than a breath of fresh air for the centre-back. No words are necessary, a simple hug is more than enough to convey his eternal gratitude. Ancelotti is clear that he is his hero, the footballer who is giving his health to resist, without rest, without respite… and with this photo Ancelotti does not hesitate to thank him for his tireless availability . And the Italian measures each of his actions to the millimetre and with the post he posted on his social networks he wanted to make it clear that his man on the pitch is Antonio. A hug and a few words in his ear to continue recovering the north in the white football.
