”Rudiger also told reporters that facing formidable opponents motivates him even more.

He said, ‘Defending against tough opponents? That’s why I live. Those are the moments I love – when all difficulties are against you, when everyone speaks ill of you. What happened with Haaland is like that. I live for those moments.’

‘It’s tough to defend against tall players like [Erling] Haaland or [Victor] Osimhen, but I enjoy playing against players of this height – rather than players with height like [Lionel] Messi, for example.’

Messi, with a relatively modest height of 1.7m in European football, has dominated the sport for nearly 20 years, achieving the greatest triumphs.

Haaland is considered a purebred striker, standing at 1.94m and possessing goal-scoring abilities like a machine. He is predicted to be the one to replace Messi at the top of the world in the coming years.”