LALIGA SANTANDER
Why did Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger get involved in an altercation with Cádiz fans?
Goals from Nacho and Marco Asensio ensured a LaLiga win for Los Blancos before the ex-Chelsea defender’s heated discussion with the home support.
On Saturday, Real Madrid posted a fairly routine 2-0 win away to Cádiz in LaLiga, which could have been even more comfortable for them had then not squandered a whole host of good opportunities before Nacho eventually opened the scoring in 72nd minute.
Other than Los Blancos’ profligacy in front of goal, the 90 minutes themselves offered up fairly few talking points, but that all changed once the final whistle had gone. Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger was the man at the centre of the controversy, getting embroiled in a heated discussion with a section of the home support.
Why were Cádiz fans unhappy with Rüdiger?
The German had seemingly promised to give his shirt to a Cádiz fan at the end of the game, which would be an unusual step in many countries but less so in Spain, where Madrid and Barcelona are seen as something of a ‘second team’ by some supporters.
A number of Cádiz fans, however, weren’t too enamoured with the defender, seemingly upset with his decision not to help an opposition player who had gone down with cramp in the latter stages of the match. And they took advantage of Rüdiger’s proximity to let him know exactly what they thought about his perceived behaviour, firing a number of (not especially original) insults his way and, sadly, even a few objects.
Rüdiger bites back, Alcaraz not impressed
Rather than let it slide, Rüdiger bit back and could be seen shouting and gesturing towards the supporters in question, which, in turn, didn’t impress Rubén Alcaraz. The Cádiz midfielder approached the former Chelsea man in ‘what are you playing at’ mode and the pair had to be pulled apart by Alcaraz’s teammates Fede San Emeterio and Álvaro Negredo before anything more untoward happened.
Referee Jesús Gil Manzano also got involved and threatened to take names but ultimately resisted the urge to brandish any cards, which was perhaps the most unusual behaviour of all, given he is a LaLiga match official...