Antonio Rudiger appeared to tell Andriy Lunin which direction Mateo Kovacic would send his penalty before the goalkeeper made a vital save to help Real Madrid beat Manchester City on Wednesday night.
Footage shows Rudiger frantically pointing to his left, the goalkeeper’s right, moments before his former Chelsea teammate took the penalty.
Lunin obeyed, diving to his right to avoid Kovacic’s attempt. That proved to be the difference as the 14-time European champions reached the semi-finals after Wednesday’s second leg finished 1-1 after 120 minutes.
After Lunin’s heroics, Luka Modric could be seen hitting Rudiger, who celebrated wildly before stepping up to score the decisive penalty a few minutes later.
Manchester City had led the shootout after Modric saw his penalty saved by Ederson, only for Bernardo Silva to miss with a terrible effort that floated straight into Lunin’s hands.
Antonio Rudiger appeared to tell Andriy Lunin where Mateo Kovacic would shoot
The Real Madrid goalkeeper followed Rudiger’s instructions and saved Kovacic
Rudiger celebrated wildly after his former Chelsea team-mate was denied from 12 yards.
After the match, speculation was rife as to whether Real Madrid’s substitute goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga had also played his part in warning Lunin that Silva would head his penalty right down the middle.
Eagle-eyed fans found footage of Kepa being hit with an almost identical penalty by Silva during his Chelsea days.
That day, the 2019 Carabao Cup final, the goalkeeper dove to his right as Silva nonchalantly hammered his shot into the net.
This time, however, Lunin stood still while Silva attempted the same trick, a few minutes after the two goalkeepers were seen deep in conversation.
Kepa Arrizabalaga was seen talking to Lunin shortly before the shooting
Bernardo Silva’s high shot in the center was easily stopped by the Madrid goalkeeper
Rudiger stepped forward and scored the decisive penalty that gave Real Madrid a place in the semi-finals.
Lunin later revealed that the decision to stay was made before the shooting.
“I needed to take a risk with one of the kicks, we chose one (to stay in the middle) and thank God it worked out in our favor,” Lunin said.
“It’s a Champions League game away from home and we suffered a lot… but I’m very grateful to the team for everything they’ve fought for. I can’t imagine running like my teammates did today.”
That stop was the turning point in the penalty shootout, as Madrid scored their last four shots from the penalty spot and reached the semi-finals.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side will now face Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals after the German giants beat Arsenal 3-2 on aggregate.
