Winning Instinct: Lessons from Real Madrid for Germany

Antonio Rudiger suggests that Germany can learn from Real Madrid's killer instinct to secure victories. Speaking after Real's 15th European Cup win, Rudiger emphasized the importance of scoring goals, a lesson Germany can apply in upcoming Euro 2024 matches. Germany's past struggles highlight the need for this winning mentality.

Germany can learn from freshly-crowned Champions League winners Real Madrid how to deliver the killer punch and win matches, defender Antonio Rudiger said on Wednesday.

Rudiger won the Champions League with Real last week, after their 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund, who had many chances to score, especially in the first half. It was Real's 15th European Cup win, having now gone unbeaten in finals for more than 40 years.

"(Germany and Real), these are two different pairs of shoes," Rudiger told a press conference at the national team's base in Herzogenaurach. "Here we have a very good system that fits our game but what we can take with us from Madrid is that killer instinct.

"Our last game against Ukraine was super good. I have not seen a 0-0 from us in quite some time that was so good but the thing that was missing was the goals and that is what we can learn from Madrid." The Germans, on Monday dominated against Euro participants Ukraine, hitting the woodwork and squandering a bagful of golden opportunities to score before almost conceding a goal in the final minute.

They were equally wasteful in the 2022 World Cup that saw them crash out in the group stage for the second time in a row. Germany take on Greece on Friday in their final warmup match before they kick off Euro 2024 with their June 14 opening match against Scotland in Group A.

They also play Hungary and Switzerland in their group. "The anticipation in our own country is huge," Rudiger said. "On Friday we have an important last test. It is important for our confidence. It is important to excite our fans in this final test.

"We have to be humble. We all know what happened in the past tournaments. The road to get here had ups and downs. What is important is to play a very good first game and then see what happens in the rest of the tournament," he added.

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