Rags fly between Stanisic and Rudiger: "Completely unacceptable"

At the end of Bayern Munich-Real Madrid Josip Stanisic said Antonio Rüdiger allegedly insulted him while he was on the ground after receiving a blow. “I don’t need to talk about what happened when I was on the ground,” said the naturalized Croatian German. “You can ask him, but in my opinion it is completely unacceptable. Only one word was said, twice: you can ask him yourself, maybe he will have the courage to admit it. I do not want to add more because I am not a person who seeks confrontation. I don’t take it personally. These are things that happen in the moment. But I don’t think it’s acceptable.”

The episode comes amid an already hot night at the Allianz Arena, where Bayern Munich eliminated Real Madrid in a thrilling 4-3 win that followed the 2-1 first leg at the Bernabeu. It was a memorable match, decided in the final: first Camavinga’s expulsion in the 87th minute for double yellow, then Luis Diaz’s equalizer in the 89th minute, and finally Olise’s winning goal in the 94th minute, which sent the Bavarian crowd into a frenzy and qualified Bayern for the Champions League semifinals. At the triple whistle, red also for Guler amid furious protests by the Blancos against referee Slavko Vinčić.

This is not the first time Rüdiger has ended up at the center of controversy for behavior bordering on the rules. Last March, during the La Liga match between Real Madrid and Getafe, the German defender was accused of deliberately kneeing Diego Rico, who was already on the ground after a clash, in the face. The incident had triggered an avalanche of insults and threats on social networks from thousands of fans, outraged by what many had called a gesture of deliberate unsportsmanship. On that occasion, too, the referee had taken no action against the player, fueling further controversy.

Rüdiger’s future, meanwhile, remains one of the hottest topics of the upcoming summer market. The defender’s contract with Real Madrid is expiring and several Premier League clubs have already moved on him, including Manchester United and Liverpool. In Italy, Juventus has expressed concrete interest, also strong on the strength of the player’s special relationship with Luciano Spalletti, with whom he had already worked at Roma. The elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Bayern further complicates the picture at Madrid’s home side, making the future of both the player and coach Arbeloa, whose confirmation on the Blancos bench was largely linked to European results, even more uncertain.