‘Let’s see if he’s man enough to admit what he said’ – Josip Stanisic slams Real Madrid defender

‘Let’s see if he’s man enough to admit what he said’ – Josip Stanisic slams Real Madrid defender

Bayern Munich defender Josip Stanisic is not happy with Real Madrid counterpart Antonio Rudiger, calling his behaviour ‘unacceptable’ after a heated encounter during their Champions League quarter-final second leg. The Croatian defender was involved in a coming together with Rudiger, after claiming a foul.

In the first half, Stanisic went down in the build-up to Kylian Mbappe’s goal that put Real Madrid level in the tie. Bayern’s players claimed for a foul that was not given, with Stanisic remaining down. Rudiger approached Stanisic, and the latter told Kicker that he was insulted by the German twice.

‘Maybe he’s man enough to admit it’ – Stanisic on Rudiger

Speaking after the game, Stanisic told the German magazine that Rudiger insulted him while he was on the ground.

“I don’t need to talk about what happened when I was on the ground. You can ask him, but in my opinion it’s completely unacceptable. Only one word was spoken, twice – you can ask him yourself – maybe he’s man enough to admit it. I don’t want to say anything because I’m not someone who wants bad blood. I don’t take it personally. It happens in the heat of the moment. But I don’t think it’s acceptable:”

Rudiger in the spotlight for behaviour on the pitch

This comes a little over a month after Rudiger received heavy criticism for kneeing Getafe left-back Diego Rico in the head while he was on the floor, with Los Azulones claiming it was deliberate. Rudiger was asked about the incident several weeks later, and told the press that if he had meant to injure Rico, ‘he would still be lying there.’ Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa backed up his veteran centre-back, calling Rudiger an example to all young players.