The slap to Álvaro Carreras and other controversial episodes of Rüdiger

BarcelonaFor the second consecutive season, Real Madrid will not win any major titles, and this seems to have taken its toll on the Bernabéu locker room, where the players have exchanged reproaches. But the tension has not only been verbal. According to chain Onda Cero, in one of these arguments Antonio Rüdiger slapped Álvaro Carreras. The episode took place in the locker room, a couple of weeks ago, before the match against Betis.

The information spread quickly and Carreras himself has issued a statement to give explanations. The full-back admits the incident, but downplays it, assuring that "it was an unimportant matter that is now resolved" and adds that "the relationship with the whole team is good".

In any case, this is not the first controversy surrounding Rüdiger. Not going any further, this season he already tried to assault Diego Rico, in an action where the Getafe player was on the ground and he dropped his knee, also to the ground. He managed to scratch his face, although fortunately the incident had no physical consequences for Rico. It was a red card offense that was only punished with a yellow card. In any case, in a subsequent press conference, he denied the facts and said it had been an accidental action. He ultimately received no sanction.

Last season there were two more. In the Copa del Rey final, just before the referee blew the whistle to end the match, Rüdiger threw several ice cubes from the bench as a sign of disapproval for not having called a foul in his favor. Barça won that match (3-2) and the German footballer received a six-match ban, which, being a serious punishment, he served in the following league commitments.

He was also a protagonist in the Champions League. After eliminating Atlético de Madrid in the round of 16, during the penalty shootout, Rüdiger addressed the stands where there were Atlético fans and celebrated the victory by making the gesture of cutting their throats with his hand, as if he were an ancient warrior. UEFA fined him 40,000 euros for "violating basic rules of decent conduct".

Germany questions whether Rüdiger should go with the national team

This string of controversies has cast doubt on his role in the German selection, with whom in 2021, during the European Championship, he had another incident with Pogba, whom he bit in a France-Germany match. It was a minor gesture that ultimately received no sanction from the referee but went viral.

Be that as it may, some prominent former footballers have proposed that he not be called up for the mannschaft for the World Cup. Roman Weidenfeller, who had been a goalkeeper for Dortmund and the national team, said that "he has to control himself, because he represents himself but also Germany and these scenes cannot be part of the game." Michale Ballack, also a German international and former player for Leverkusen, Bayern, and Chelsea, has said that "he doesn't control himself with cards and this is a problem that the coach will have to consider."