Euro 2024: Rudiger's imperious performances gives Germany hope of hometown glory

 

Antonio Rudiger played the full 90 of Germany's 1-1 draw with Switzerland back in the group stages of Euro 2024 but the decision to keep the centre-back on for the duration of the stalemate could have proved costly. Julian Nagelsmann's side had secured their spot in the last-16 ahead of the final Group A outings however rather than rotate, the Germany boss continued with an unchanged XI. 

 

While it took a late Niclas Fullkrug strike to rescue a point, the bigger story was the thigh injury Rudiger sustained. The issue may not have been a serious as initially fear yet the 31-year-old was in a race to feature in Saturday's win over Denmark. Of course, Rudiger recovered in time to star in the 2-0 round-of-16 victory over the Danes, earning a WhoScored rating of 7.71; only fellow centre-back Nico Schlotterback (7.88) earned higher. 

 

As Germany eye a fourth European Championship in their history, attention has been on the likes of Jamal Musiala and Toni Kroos. The former has three goals to his name - no player has more - while the latter has been a passing machine in the middle of the park, dictating the tempo with ease in the final knockings of his career. 

 

And yet this Germany side has conceded just two goals across their four outings, with Rudiger vital in their defensive resolve, not including the late own goal in the 5-1 win over Scotland in the tournament curtain raiser. Those who watched the German for Real Madrid last season will not be surprised to see this level of performance from Rudiger on home soil. 

 

 

As Los Blancos claimed the La Liga title, Rudiger was part of a backline that conceded fewer goals (26) than any other side in Spain's top tier. What's all the more impressive is that they did so having lost key personnel Thibaut Courtois, Eder Militao and David Alaba at different stages of the campaign due to serious knee issues. Rudiger, though, was a consistent at the heart of a Real Madrid backline that claimed league and Champions League glory last season. 

 

Now Germany are hoping he can repeat the feat for the national team, and he's been instrumental so far in their progression to the quarter-finals. As Die Mannschaft have dominated the ball at Euro 2024 - only Portugal (68.5%) than Germany (65.8%) - key has been the distribution from the centre-backs. Rudiger isn't afraid to get the ball down and build from the back with an average of 83.8 passes per game the eighth most at Euro 2024, while no centre-back has made more successful final third passes than the  Germany star (62). He's consistent, too, when it comes to picking out a teammate having returned a 92.2% pass success rate across his four outings. 

 

 

This means that when Germany do get the ball, opponents rarely see possession for lengthy stints, aided in that the tournament hosts boast the best pass success rate (91.6%) this summer. And even when opponents are on the ball, they struggle to forge goalscoring opportunities, noted in that they are allowing fewer shots per game (6.8) than any other team at Euro 2024. Crucially, Germany aren't wrecklessly diving into challenges to ease pressure on the goal. 

 

Rudiger in particular is remaining composed when it comes to winning the ball back for Germany. Indeed, he has won possession in the defensive third 12 times, that ranking 12th at Euro 2024, and has been forced to make just six tackles across his four appearances. Crucially is that he is yet to be dribbled past; Rudiger's aura alone is enough to put off attackers from making a run at the German powerhouse. 

 

Having come through a tougher task in keeping Denmark at bay, and doing so without centre-back partner Jonathan Tah alongside him, Rudiger and Germany will face their toughest task when they face Spain in Stuttgart on Friday to kick off the quarter-finals. La Roja after all rank top for shots per game (20.5) have recorded the highest xG so far (10.07) and rank second for total attempted dribbles per game (24.8) at Euro 2024, and their wide pair of Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal will give this solid Germany backline a run for its money.

 

Given his La Liga experience, though, Rudiger shouldn't have too much trouble in keeping the likes of Williams, Yamal and, crucially, Alvaro Morata at bay, while he's a centre-back who very much rises to the big occasion. It was never going to be easy for Germany to win the Euros on home turf, and if they overcome Spain, then they'll face France or Portugal to book their place in the Euro 2024 final. However, with Ruidger marshaling the Germany backline superbly, the level of opposition won't be a huge concern for Nagelsmann's side.

Euro 2024: Rudiger's imperious performances gives Germany hope of hometown glory