Antonio Rüdiger

On 30 April he was sent off with a red card in the 93rd minute in Derby della Capitale against Lazio in a 3–1 home defeat.

Rüdiger finished his second season at Roma with 35 appearances and four assists.

Antonio Rüdiger (born 3 March 1993) is a German professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Germany national team.

Considered one of the best defenders in the world, he is known for his aggressive playing style, tackling ability and strong aerial presence.

Rüdiger began his career at VfB Stuttgart, representing their reserves in 3. Liga and the first team in the Bundesliga.

On 23 July 2011, Rüdiger made his debut for VfB Stuttgart II in the 3. Liga against Arminia Bielefeld.

Subsequently on 29 January 2012, Rüdiger made his Bundesliga debut for VfB Stuttgart's first team in a home professional match against Borussia Mönchengladbach, he was replaced by Raphael Holzhauser in the 79th minute of a 3–0 defeat.

The following year in April 2013, Rüdiger extended his contract with Stuttgart until June 2017.

On 1 June, he played in the final of the DFB-Pokal in a match lost 3–2 against Bayern Munich.

He finished his second season in the first team with 24 appearances, plus 4 appearances and 2 goals in the reserve team.

Rüdiger finished the 2013–14 season with 35 appearances and 2 goals.

He finished the following season with only 20 appearances and one assist due to various injuries.

He made his international debut for Germany in May 2014.

In 2015 he joined Roma, initially on loan and a year later for a €9 million fee.

On 19 August 2015, Serie A club Roma signed Rüdiger on loan from Stuttgart for €4 million.

The clubs agreed on an optional €9 million transfer fee at the end of the one-year contract.

On 12 September, he made his debut in a 2–0 away win over Frosinone.

He was forced to miss UEFA Euro 2016 due to an injury suffered earlier in the season but he was part of the squad that won the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.

On 9 January 2016 he scored his first goal for Roma in the 4th minute of a 1–1 home draw against Milan.

He finished his season-long loan to Roma with 37 appearances and 2 goals.

On 30 May, Roma officially signed Rüdiger from Stuttgart for €9 million + €0.5m bonuses on a four-year contract.

He was signed by Chelsea in 2017 for an estimated £27 million, where he won the FA Cup in his first season, followed by the UEFA Europa League in his second season, and the UEFA Champions League in 2021.

In 2022, Rüdiger signed for European champions Real Madrid.

On 23 February 2017, as a substitute replacing Kostas Manolas in the 46th minute of a 1–0 home defeat against Villarreal in the round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League, he was sent off with a double yellow card in the 81st minute.

On 9 July 2017, Rüdiger joined Chelsea from Roma for a reported initial fee of £29 million on a five-year deal.

He was given the number 2 shirt.

He made his debut on 6 August as a substitute replacing Marcos Alonso in the 79th minute in a 4–1 loss on penalties to Arsenal in the 2017 FA Community Shield.

He made his Premier League debut six days later in a 3–2 defeat against Burnley at Stamford Bridge.

He scored his first goal for Chelsea in the round of 16 of the EFL Cup in a 2–1 win over Everton, and his first league goal was the only one of a home win over Swansea City on 29 November 2017.

He kept his spot in the squad for the 2018 World Cup, and later also took part at UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.

On 20 October 2018, Rüdiger scored his first goal of the season, opening the scoring in a 2–2 home draw against Manchester United.

On 22 December 2019, Rüdiger made a complaint about racist abuse directed against him during the away match against Tottenham Hotspur, which received wide media coverage.

It prompted a call for government action on racism in football.

However, no evidence of racist abuse against Rüdiger was found after a police investigation with the police eventually dismissing the case.

On his 100th club appearance, he scored Chelsea's two goals, both headers assisted by Mason Mount in a 2–2 draw against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on 1 February 2020.

On 29 May 2021, Rüdiger won his first-ever UEFA Champions League after Chelsea beat Manchester City 1–0 in the final at the Estádio do Dragão.

On 12 April 2022, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 3–2 away win over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the 2021–22 season; however, Chelsea were eliminated from the competition by losing 5–4 on aggregate.

On 20 May, Rüdiger announced officially that he would leave Chelsea after five years.

On 2 June 2022, Real Madrid announced that Rüdiger signed as a free agent for the club, penning a four-year deal starting with the 2022–23 season.

On 20 June 2022, Rüdiger was unveiled as a new Real Madrid player.