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Topics: Antonio Rudiger, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City
Josh Lawless
Topics: Antonio Rudiger, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City
Fans noticed the actions of Antonio Rudiger ahead of Mateo Kovacic's missed penalty in Manchester City's Champions League quarter-final exit on Wednesday night.
After a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes of action in the second leg, the semi-final clash went all the way to penalties and it was 14-time champions Real who prevailed 4-3 on spot-kicks.
Veteran Luka Modric was first to miss but then both Bernardo Silva and Kovacic were denied by Andriy Lunin.
In the end the responsibility fell on the shoulders of Rudiger, who sent Real into the semi-finals against Bayern Munich.
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He kept his cool from 12 yards but the former Stuttgart man also played an even more important role earlier on in the shoot-out.
Fans spotted what he did prior to Kovacic, his former Chelsea colleague, taking his penalty.
While stood in the halfway line, the Germany international was seen pointing to the left - telling his goalkeeper where Kovacic was going to go.
Although not right in the corner, Kovacic did indeed go the side and Lunin made a strong save in a key moment.
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It's unclear whether Lunin saw his teammate's gesture given the distance he was away from him.
But it's also emerged that Kepa Arrizabalaga, another former Chelsea player, had an important part to play.
According to assistant manager Davide Ancelotti, son of manager Carlo, Kepa helped with the ordering of penalties and was also seen chatting with Lunin before the shoot-out.
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Some fans suggested that after seeing Silva penalty successfully go down the middle against him in a 2019 Carabao Cup final shoot-out, he instructed Lunin to stay in the middle.
Explaining his decision to gamble, Lunin said: "I needed to take a risk with one of the kicks, we picked one (to stay in the middle) and thank goodness it worked out in our favour."
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