Antonio Rudiger appeared to tell Andriy Lunin which way Mateo Kovacic would send his penalty before the goalkeeper made a crucial save to help Real Madrid beat Manchester City on Wednesday evening.
Footage shows Rudiger frantically pointing to his left – the goalkeeper’s right – just before his former Chelsea teammate took his penalty.
Lunin obliged, diving low to his right to keep out Kovacic’s attempt. That proved to be the difference as the 14-time European champions reached the semi-finals after Wednesday’s second leg ended 1-1 over 120 minutes.
After Lunin’s heroics, Luka Modric could be seen hitting Rudiger, who celebrated wildly before scoring the decisive penalty a few minutes later.
Manchester City had led the shootout after Modric saw his penalty saved by Ederson, but Bernardo Silva missed with a terrible effort that floated straight into Lunin’s hands.
Antonio Rudiger appeared to tell Andriy Lunin which way Mateo Kovacic would shoot
The Real Madrid goalkeeper followed Rudiger’s instructions and saved from Kovacic
Rudiger celebrated enthusiastically after his former Chelsea teammate was denied from twelve meters
After the match, speculation was rife as to whether Real Madrid’s replacement goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, had also played his role in warning Lunin that Silva would shoot his penalty straight down the middle.
Eagle-eyed supporters found footage of Kepa being beaten by Silva with an almost identical penalty during his days at Chelsea.
On that day – the 2019 Carabao Cup final – the goalkeeper dived to his right as Silva nonchalantly tapped his effort into the net.
This time, however, Lunin stood still as Silva tried to perform the same trick – a few minutes after the two goalkeepers were deep in conversation.
Kepa Arrizabalaga was deep in conversation with Lunin shortly before the gunfight
Bernardo Silva’s lofty effort through the middle was easily saved by Madrid’s goalkeeper
Rudiger stepped up and scored the decisive penalty as Real Madrid reached the semi-finals
Lunin later revealed that the decision to remain seated was made before the shootout.
“I had to take a risk with one of the kicks, we chose one (to stay in the middle) and thank God it worked in our favor,” Lunin said.
‘It’s an away match in the Champions League and we’ve had to endure a lot of suffering… but I’m very grateful to the team for everything they fought for. I can’t imagine running like my teammates today.”
That save proved to be the turning point of the shootout as Madrid scored their last four penalties to reach the semi-finals.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side will now take on Bayern Munich in the last four after the German giants defeated Arsenal 3-2.