The Germany defender sounds ready to go…
Real Madrid center-back Antonio Rüdiger is 32-years-old, but is still the leading center-back of the German national team under Julian Nagelsmann.
In the pregame press conference ahead of Germany’s UEFA Nations League match against Italy, the defender spoke about the importance of this team making it to the competition’s final four.
“We all got a taste for it [at the EUROs], the atmosphere we had. If we advance, we’ll have a little mini-tournament in Germany. It would be good to bring our players along in such an important year. A title is a title. Of course, it’s not as valuable as the Champions League, but a title is a title,” said Rüdiger (as captured by @iMiaSanMia).
Rüdiger is looking forward to the first leg on Thursday and is eager to see Italy’s defenders.
“Italy has always had great defenders. Currently, I particularly like Alessandro Bastoni of Inter. I think he’s a leader and has a great future ahead of him,” Rüdiger noted.
At one point, Bastoni was linked to Bayern Munich.
As for defenders on his own squad, Rüdiger did not exactly sound as if he was ready to play the role of mentor to Inter Milan defender Yann Bisseck. Instead, Rüdiger offered some advice.
“He should be himself and find his own identity. That’s what I can give him. He’s a genius. He graduated from high school at 16, is a smart and big boy. He’s had many good and some bad experiences, and has gone abroad. I’m happy that he’s made his way at such a big club like Inter and simply wish him all the best,” Rüdiger said.
Finally, Rüdiger said he was keen on seeing his former coach Luciano Spalletti once again.
“I’m very happy to finally meet my former coach again. He was an important coach for me when I was younger in my career. When I came [to Roma] from Germany and thought I was a good defender, he taught me a lot. But I’m here to win the game. It will be difficult because of their good players and a good coach,” said Rüdiger.
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