Real Madrid star Antonio Rüdiger has provided an insight into the reasoning behind his unique celebrations on the back of the club’s meeting with Bayern Munich.
Real, of course, are fresh off another night to remember on the continent.
After welcoming German heavyweights Bayern to Spain’s capital for the 2nd leg of the Champions League semi-final tie between the clubs, Los Blancos ultimately emerged on the right side of a 2-1 scoreline.
The aforementioned Rüdiger, meanwhile, played a central role, laying on Joselu’s 2nd with an inch-perfect injury-time assist from the left.
And yet, post-match, it was the German’s celebratory endeavours which grabbed the headlines.
As much came with Rüdiger having been spotted retrieving a chair from the sideline, which he went on to carry out onto the pitch and raise up and down in front of the Santiago Bernabéu crowd.
The chair was then passed over to teammate David Alaba, who went on to do the same.
Asked for an explanation for his actions during an interview with CBS Sports on the back of the full-time whistle on Wednesday, the former Chelsea man revealed that it came as an effort to include sidelined teammate Alaba in the festivities.
This comes with the Austrian having made the ‘chair celebration’ something of a personal trademark over recent years.
“The chair celebration was for David Alaba,” Rüdiger began. “He is an important piece of the team, and the chair had to be brought up so the fans could cheer him up.”
Conor Laird | GSFN
