The duo that has dominated European football for the past 15 years—Cristiano-Messi, or Messi-Cristiano—is nearing the end of what seemed like an endless run. Others will have to take up the slack now that both are enjoying football in lower levels outside of Europe.
That is where Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland come in, two of the players (there are more: Bellingham, Griezmann, Vini, Julián Álvarez, Kane…) who want to fill that void with goals and football.
And as luck would have it, both will need to pass Antonio Rudiger’s ultimate test. Rudiger is enjoying a fantastic season.
Mbappe was the first to see Rudiger. The French national team’s undisputed leader, the PSG striker, faced a challenging test when he took the field at Groupama Stadium. They hosted Germany, which saw the return of Toni Kroos to the Mannschaft, and he did so in a position where he would have to try to get past the Madrid centre-back, one of the most complicated missions at present.
Additionally, the German defense totally neutralized the PSG player, so it wasn’t the best day for him on the field. The sum totals tell it all: 5 out of 11 ground duels (45%), 4 out of 9 dribbles (44%), 1 out of 6 accurate shots (17%), 27 out of 38 accurate passes (71%).
Who will be next?
Rudiger may have asked himself after his heroics in the friendly with France and Germany, but there is another giant on the horizon: Haaland. On 9 April, they will face a man who knows Rudiger like the back of his hand… and has seen the German’s defensive tricks up close.
Throughout the game, the centre-back clung to the City striker, not letting him out of breath… and even played some psychological tricks. The Norwegian striker’s statistics speak for themselves: he had 21 touches, completed 9 of 12 passes, fired twice between the posts, and lost the ball 5 times.
After the first ‘giant’ visit, Antonio posted some photos on social media showing him leaving Mbappe without options in attack. Some have interpreted this as a message to Mbappe, who could be his teammate in the future.