Real Madrid and Bayern Munich will meet again in the Champions League semifinals, just like old times, except there will be no Cristiano Ronaldo or Arjen Robben.
Some faces, like Luka Modric and Manuel Neuer, will be familiar, but there are plenty of new superstars in this old European footballing rivalry like Vinicius Junior and Harry Kane.
One of those new faces on Real Madrid, Antonio Rudiger, is a veteran of the competition in his own right, having won the tournament in 2020/21 for Chelsea, knocking out the Royal Whites along the way.
Rudiger knows plenty about Bayern Munich, too. Not only is he a German international who played in the Bundesliga as a youngster for Stuttgart, but he also played for Thomas Tuchel when Chelsea won the Champions League.
Ahead of next week’s first leg tilt at the Allianz Arena, Rudiger offered some praise for three Bayern Munich star attackers he will be watching closely, and he picked the exact three best players on the team to watch:
“Harry Kane of course, but they also have other qualities. Musiala, Leroy Sané. I hope Leroy will be 100% fit because I heard he had problems. I hope he’s fit because you want to play against the best.”
The Real Madrid mentality is to face the best and beat the best when they are at their best, especially in the Champions League. Nothing encapsulates that better than their 2021/22 run to the final, so Rudiger has picked up the memo.
It is classy to see Rudiger wish the best for national teammate Leroy Sane, who has been electrifying this season, even if he doesn’t have the same plaudits as Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala.
All three of these guys are three of the best players in the world, and if Bayern Munich can win the Champions League title, they will be Ballon d’Or contenders despite Die Roten’s struggles in the Bundesliga.
Antonio Rudiger and his teammates will have their hands full, as these three players alone have 51 combined goals and 25 assists for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga this season.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He has been an editor for NFL Spin Zone, Daily DDT for pro wrestling, Autzen Zoo covering the Oregon Ducks, Musket Fire covering the New England Patriots, The Real Champs covering Real Madrid, Old Juve covering Juventus, Rush The Kop covering Liverpool, and Release The Knappen covering Schalke. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.