"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," says Rüdiger, covered in blood

Antonio Rüdiger's debut goal for Real Madrid in the Champions League was important - and very painful. His face and white shirt were covered in blood as the Germany international was escorted off after his fifth-minute stoppage-time equalizer against Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw. A supervisor pressed a cloth on Rüdiger's forehead to stop the heavy bleeding.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," the 29-year-old wrote on Instagram after midnight, reassuring fans: "I'm okay. Thanks for all your messages. ”A selfie in the Instagram story showed Rüdiger with a connected head.

What happened? After a long cross from former world champion Toni Kroos, Rüdiger, who had moved up, clashed with Donetsk keeper Anatolij Trubin when he headed the ball. Their heads banged violently, both players seemed dazed at first. While Rüdiger got back on his feet relatively quickly, Trubin was treated lying on the grass for minutes.

Real coach Carlo Ancelotti revealed afterwards that Rüdiger's injury was a "rather long" laceration. "He wanted to get back on the pitch, but then he realized that he was injured," reported the Italian, who gave the all-clear: "I think it's nothing bad." Rüdiger himself had already said on the way out of the stadium that "everything is fine". He was sewn up with 20 stitches.

Template provider Kroos didn't really want to look at the injury, "I've seen nicer pictures in my life," he said, "it's a lot of blood. I hope he comes back soon.”

At least Rüdiger's commitment was worth it: The defending champions qualified early for the round of 16 in the premier class thanks to the late equalizer and prevented an embarrassing defeat shortly before the important Clásico on Sunday at home to arch-rivals FC Barcelona.