Antonio Rudiger is quietly showing what his true value actually is at Real Madrid now
Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger started his first game of the season against Malaga on Sunday in a resounding 4-0 win over the newly promoted team. Rudiger started in the heart of defense alongside Dean Huijsen, once again playing in the center-back pairing of last season.
Rudiger looked good with some clean tackles and crisp passing. He wasn't tested too much apart from some minutes in the second half, but even in those few instances, the German center-back took care of business fairly easily.
It is worth mentioning that Rudiger was not really playing the toughest of opponents. Malaga are still a newly promoted team at the end of the day, and playing well against them while also having so much possession defensively is not the most difficult job that Rudiger has ever had to do in his career.
Antonio Rudiger is a really good option to have as a third-choice center-back
However, he did quietly show what his actual ceiling and his role is for this team. Obviously, until last season, he used to play every minute he was fit for.
There were many games where Rudiger just wasn't able to play too much because of injuries, but whenever he was fit, he was the first name in defense. Now, with the arrival of Ibrahima Konate and his decline, Rudiger's decline as well, the situation has changed just a little bit.
Rudiger will still be very important whenever called upon, like he was against Malaga on Sunday. But the matches where he is called upon wouldn't be as many as they used to be in the last few seasons, with Konate completing the pairing with Huijsen.
They will start the most important games of Real Madrid's season. Obviously, Rudiger will still have an important role to play as the season is very long, but it is not going to be the same amount of minutes as he used to get unless an injury takes place and gives him a bigger role.
Right now, Rudiger is comfortably a really good third-choice center-back for Real Madrid, and that will probably continue for the foreseeable future, as long as there are no long-term injuries for any of Real Madrid's defenders. It will also be interesting to see how that improves or derails Rudiger's performance as well.
Maybe playing less time and having more days to recover from these games would help the German central defender in bringing his best level back whenever he plays. It is something to wait around for and find out.
