Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger was fortunate to avoid a red card during Wednesday night’s Champions League meeting with Lille. The German international had already received a booking earlier in the evening, and his judo-like move in the box is now facing intense scrutiny online.
The European champions suffered a surprising 1-0 defeat to Ligue 1’s fifth-placed team, with a penalty from Jonathan David just before halftime sending the French side into dreamland. Despite dominating the statistics and fielding a strong lineup featuring Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr., and Dani Carvajal, Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid were unable to respond and experienced their first group stage loss since October 2022.
While Los Blancos failed to secure any points, their Champions League campaign could have faced an even steeper challenge had the referee – or VAR – intervened to penalise Rudiger’s reckless actions. Already walking a fine line, the 31-year-old appeared to grab Alexsandro off the ball and throw him to the floor.
Antonio Rudiger Gets Away With Red Card
He’s now being compared to Pepe for his dark arts manoeuvre
When referees have replays to fall back on, there shouldn’t be any mistakes when it comes to pivotal turning points, especially in a competition as big as the Champions League. Yet, for AS’s referee analyst, Iturralde Gonzalez, this is exactly what happened on Wednesday night.
“Rudiger grabs him by the left arm and does something resembling a judo throw… he should’ve been sent off. It wasn’t enough for VAR to intervene and give a straight red, but it was definitely a second yellow,” Iturralde explained. Meanwhile, the Spanish outlet’s honorary president concluded: “He’s got a bit of Pepe in him.” Watch the incident below:
As the incident did its rounds on social media, the general consensus was that Rudiger was lucky not to have been given his marching orders. One X user remarked: “Could’ve easily dislocated his elbow or shoulder. What a scumbag”, while another added: “His antics were funny for a while but that’s a legit attempt to hurt someone there.”
A third user asked: “Do people realise how dangerous this can be? Pulling someone’s arm like that is a nasty move. But he always does these things and gets away with it.” Elsewhere, a fourth added: “This is just psychotic behaviour. They really should have sent him off.”
Real Madrid Face Unexpected Stumbling Block
The reigning champions currently sit 17th in the Champions League
In the early stages of the competition, one loss will do very little to taint Real Madrid’s position as the favourites for a 16th European Cup. However, Los Blancos do appear to be suffering from somewhat of a hangover at the start of this term. After last season’s La Liga and Champions League double, they find themselves playing catch-up in both after just 10 games in all competitions.
A curtain-raising 1-1 draw away to Mallorca first put the team’s attacking profligacy in the spotlight, and they haven’t been convincing since. Questions persisted about the effectiveness of the attack – specifically whether Mbappe, Vinicius Jr., and Rodrygo could fully gel – as the team drew away at Las Palmas on Matchday three, leaving them with just five points from a possible nine to start their title defence.
Last night, Lille ended the 36-match unbeaten run of Europe’s most decorated club, a streak that began in January after their dramatic Copa del Rey loss to Atletico Madrid. While it’s still too early to predict how far they can go this season, something must change for Mbappe and Co to reach their full potential.