Barcelona player Mateo Kovacic plays for Manchester City. Antonio Rudiger, a defender for Real Madrid, knows Kovacic well because they played together at Chelsea.

They played against each other again on Wednesday, and even though Kovacic’s team looked better on paper, Rudiger came out on top, and now Madrid is in the UEFA Champions League semi-final.

Because of a tie game, penalties were needed to decide the winner. Andriy Lunin did a good job of stopping Bernardo Silva and Kovacic, but the Croatian player was about to take charge.

It’s interesting that the former Chelsea center back was seen showing Lunin where Kovacic was going to shoot his penalty, which caused the Ukrainian to save it.

Rudiger led Real Madrid’s defense the whole game and played great against a strong attack. 

His most impressive play came in the shootout, when he scored the game-winning goal that sealed Madrid’s win. He was in charge of the defense the whole game and worked hard with his teammates to stop City’s flying threats.

But Rudiger’s mistake led to Kevin De Bruyne’s equalizer with just 15 minutes left, ending Madrid’s hopes of hanging on to Rodrygo’s 1-0 lead. 

Even with this loss, Madrid kept fighting. Rudiger learned from his mistake with help from players like Nacho. 

As the game went into extra time, Madrid got stronger, especially after Erling Haaland left. The game ended with a penalty shootout, which was the climax. At this tense point, Madrid kept their cool while City lost it. 

In the end, Lunin’s important stops and Rudiger’s successful penalty gave Madrid the win over the defending champions, solidifying their position as Europe’s top contenders.