Tell me what exactly were your thoughts when you heard Antonio Rudiger was set to join Real Madrid from Chelsea? Same as mine? Or perhaps the same as ours – I mean we at Real Madrid Unofficial.
Yes, we all thought he was going to walk straight to the team with one of Eder Militao or Ferland Mendy dropping out – the latter was the likeliest as that meant David Alaba would move to the left-back role.
But Rudiger has been limited to just 448 minutes across nine games all season. The Germany international has played the full 90 minutes of a game in four fixtures this season while others have been as a substitute.
In his favourite centre-back role, Rudiger has appeared just three times, playing as a left-back once and five times as a right-back.
Not sure this was the outing he imagined when he signed for the Los Blancos earlier in the just-ended transfer window.
What has kept Antonio Rudiger out of the starting lineup?
Mendy has been in top form in the last two seasons for Real Madrid and his presence adds confidence and stamina to what is a shaky defence when he is not around.
In the 2021/22 season, the Frenchman started 20 of the 22 games he played in the Spanish La Liga and started 10 of Madrid’s 13 Champions League games in the run to win it.
He was one of the team’s best performers of the team alongside, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior, Federico Valverde, Thibaut Courtois and Luka Modric.
In the new season, Ancelotti has trusted Ferland Mendy again and the player has not been disappointing. He has played to the best of his abilities and that means he is not going out of the team anytime soon.
Eder Militao on the other side has also been on a good run of form and even though he has leaked sometimes, he is the one Ancelotti has trusted to partner Alaba at the centre of defence.
Is there a way back for Rudiger?
Obviously, yes! Players have not always walked straight into teams in their maiden campaigns but it takes time to develop. Recent examples at the club have been Vinicius, Fede Valverde and even Mendy.
All the German will need to do is to take his chances and prove to Carlo he has more in his skillset than the Italian would have imagined.
Ancelotti always rewards hard workers and there is no doubt with consistent performance Rudiger could be given a shot at Madrid’s starting lineup.
