IMAGO / Sven Simon Jonas Rütten
Apr 16, 2026 04:40+06:00 | Translated by "Maybe he’s man enough to admit it!"
Bayern star Josip Stanisic levels serious accusations against Real Madrid’s Antonio Rüdiger
Champions League | Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid | Bayern Munich | Real Madrid | J. Stanisic | A. Ruediger | V. Kompany
Josip Stanisic is crunched by Antonio Rüdiger just before half-time, but the referee keeps his whistle silent, and Real Madrid capitalise to make it 3–2. After Bayern eventually win, Stanisic turns on the German defender with a verbal tirade.
It was a match tailor-made for Antonio Rüdiger. Real Madrid’s defensive linchpin felt right at home in the emotionally charged quarter-final second leg between Bayern Munich and Los Blancos. Tough challenges and plenty of trash-talk—just the sort of thing the German thrives on.
However, Rüdiger clearly went too far once again against Munich defender Josip Stanisic. Just before half-time, he delivered a debatable, painful challenge on Stanisic that many felt should have been punished, and the incident left the Bayern defender seething even after the record champions’ 4-3 victory.
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Stanisic dribbled past Rüdiger and slipped the ball to Serge Gnabry in the centre. Instantly after the pass, however, the German centre-back rammed his elbow into Stanisic’s side and, as the Croatian lay writhing in pain, reportedly let fly with a stream of verbal abuse. On the very next action, Kylian Mbappé netted Real’s third to make it 3–2.
“He sees me coming and just charges straight into me. In the past, you’d simply let play continue and if you lost the ball, a free-kick would be awarded. Maybe the referee forgot that rule there, I don’t know,” Stanisic said, still visibly upset in the mixed zone after the match.
He also took Rüdiger to task for his behaviour following the hard challenge. “What happened while I was on the ground, you can ask Toni about. In my view, that kind of behaviour is completely unacceptable,” fumed Stanisic, before adding: “Just one word—used twice. You can ask him yourself. Maybe he’s man enough to admit it!”
When a reporter noted that Rüdiger had declined to comment after the match, Stanisic speculated that the 33-year-old might address it during international duty, adding: “I don’t want any bad blood and I’m not taking it personally. It happened, and for me the matter is closed. But behaviour like that is unacceptable. It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing against each other and know each other or not.”
AFP: After numerous outbursts, Antonio Rüdiger now presents himself as a changed man.
Rüdiger recently presented himself as a changed man during international duty, having previously dealt with several outbursts and a lengthy suspension for an incident in last season’s cup final against FC Barcelona. He told the FAZ at the end of March, ahead of the friendlies against Ghana and Switzerland, that he accepts “serious and objective” criticism because “I know I’ve been involved in incidents that went well over the top”. He added that he no longer wants to be a source of unrest but rather aims to “provide stability and security”. Discussions, he added, had reminded him that he sometimes failed to meet his responsibilities.
Shortly after his clash with Rüdiger, the match was over for Stanisic: at half-time, manager Vincent Kompany replaced him with Alphonso Davies as a precaution. Stanisic later admitted he was relieved by the decision.
Getty Images: Stanisic has expressed his relief at Kompany’s decision, while Bayern’s head coach is now serving a suspension.
"That was a precautionary measure because of the yellow card. We’ve seen it in our previous matches too – he wants to protect us in defence. Because the referees have lost a bit of their tact when it comes to big games. Even when there’s no foul or you believe you’ve done nothing wrong, you can still be shown a second yellow and then the red,” he explained, immediately pointing to Eduardo Camavinga’s controversial dismissal, which the Real players were still fuming about long after the final whistle and which they regarded as decisive. “I don’t think the referee knew he’d already shown Camavinga a yellow card. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have done it,” Stanisic added.
Ironically, Bayern were stung by an incident of their own. Kompany was so incensed by the failure to award a foul after Rüdiger’s challenge on the German-Croatian that referee Vincic brandished his third yellow card of the campaign to the Bayern boss. As a result, the Belgian will miss Bayern’s semi-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain.
Even sporting director Max Eberl was taken aback. “Is that right?” he asked on DAZN. “We said: ‘Great, no players are suspended’ – and now the manager is suspended? For heaven’s sake!”
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"Man Enough to Admit It?" Bayern's Josip Stanisic Levels Accusations at Real Madrid's Antonio Rüdiger
