Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger confirmed his team’s readiness to face Leipzig in the second round of the Champions League group stage, tomorrow, Wednesday, at the Real Madrid stronghold “Santiago Bernabeu”.
“What Vinicius does is dribble, opponents try to hurt him when they have the opportunity, and I played against him before, which is one of his greatest qualities, and everyone has to do their job, and he’s trying to help the team win,” Rudiger said during the press conference on Tuesday.
He added: “I don’t have to talk a lot about the qualities of Vinicius, he is a great player and everyone knows him, and in the dressing room he is calm, and loves to enjoy on the field.”
He continued, “Playing in the Champions League at the Bernabeu is a privilege and an absolute pleasure, and there is undoubtedly some anxiety.”
Regarding his scoring of goals, he explained: “It is one of my characteristics. I love to attack and score goals, and I plan to score as many goals as possible. Last year I scored 5 and I hope for more this year.”
On his adaptation to Real Madrid, he declared: “It is very important that we talk on the field, and there is communication, which makes things easier, before and after playing and during the match, and on the field, I speak in Spanish and I think everyone understands me.”
And he added, “I don’t know if I’m afraid of a player, I like to play hard but with fairness, and in the past five years I haven’t received any red card, even though I’m playing hard.”
On Alaba, he said: “I do not decide with whom to play, but when I play alongside him, there is no problem between us in communicating, whether with him or with Militao, and it is normal that we speak Spanish, but no one learns the language in two days, but since I know Italian, this helps me.”
