It comes as no surprise but Real Madrid, for the 31st time in 31 editions of the competition, has reached the Champions League Round of 16 with two matches still to play.
Group F looked decidedly simple for Real alongside RB Leipzig, Celtic and Shakhtar Donetsk, but Shakhtar almost handed los Blancos their first defeat of the campaign Tuesday after Oleksandr Zubkov had given the "home" side a 46th-minute advantage in Warsaw, Poland.
SHAKHTAR STUN REAL MADRID pic.twitter.com/mizEpH7rV7
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 11, 2022
Carlo Ancelotti clearly had one eye(brow) on Sunday's Clásico as Vini Jr, Luka Modrić, Thibaut Courtois, David Alaba and Éder Militão were all held out of the starting XI, but Antonio Rüdiger has proven himself a valuable addition since joining from Chelsea on a free transfer and it was the 29-year-old German international who fired Real into the last-16 with an insanely brave header at the 90+5' mark.
Rüdiger beautifully tracked Toni Kroos' hopeful lob into the area and met it spectacularly with a flying header, but he was immediately crushed by the outrushing goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin while the ball went off the post and in.
Cue the bloodshed.
This 95th-minute Antonio Rüdiger goal helped Real Madrid qualify for the #UCL knockout stage. pic.twitter.com/dwBXOknEYt
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 11, 2022
Rüdiger was left bloodied and needing a bandage and a new shirt, but he finished the match. It looks like he'll be available for El Clásico but probably with a face mask.
