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Antonio Rudiger's Germany teammate Florian Wirtz showed appreciation for the defender after the former scored Real Madrid's winning penalty against Manchester City on Wednesday (April 17).
Los Blancos took on the Cityzens across two legs in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final, during which the sides finished with a 4-4 scoreline on aggregate. With the game needing to be settled from the spot, Rudiger stepped up to take his team's final penalty after misses from Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva (4-3).
The former Chelsea man slotted the ball to Ederson's right and secured Real Madrid's place in the semi-final of the competition. Following this victory, Rudiger posted multiple pictures of his team celebrating the victory on Instagram and wrote:
"This is Real Madrid!!! We always fight - we always believe, we never give up! Halaaaa Madrid!!!!"
Reacting to the post, Wirtz, who has shared the pitch 12 times across competitions with Rudiger for Germany, reacted by posting three ice cubes. He was seemingly hinting at the defender's ability to remain calm in an extreme pressure situation.
Real Madrid ended up on the wrong side of the result when they faced Manchester City in the Champions League semi-final last season, losing 5-1 on aggregate. However, they've managed to redeem themselves and will face Bayern Munich in the final four stage this time around.
The first of those two legs will be played at the Allianz Arena on April 30, after which the Spanish giants will host the Bavarian outfit at the Santiago Bernabeu on May 7.
Manchester City defender reacts to Real Madrid clash going to penalties
Manchester City defender Ruben Dias cut a frustrated figure after Antonio Rudiger's winning penalty put the visiting team into the semi-finals of the Champions League.
With the sides level at 3-3 after the first leg, the Cityzens dominated proceedings in the second, keeping 68% possession and registering 33 attempts. However, they managed to find the net just once after Rodrygo opened the night's scoring in the 12th minute.
Speaking after the game, Dias said (via Sky Sports):
"I don't know what to say. Frustrating. We dominated the whole game. You go to penalties. The effort was there. We had chances. It's a difficult one to take."
"You always end up doing everything to avoid penalties. That's what they wanted."
Los Blancos managed just eight shots throughout the match, from which three tested Ederson in the Manchester City goal. Unfortunately for the Cityzens, they are out of the running to win consecutive Champions League trophies.
