Salomon Rondón is enjoying his moment in the sun this week, with the former Everton man gearing up to take on Real Madrid on Wednesday evening in the Intercontinental Cup.
That’s seen him doing various interviews, [including one with AS today](https://as.com/), in which he recalls clash with Antonio Rudiger during his time at Goodison Park.
The pair are set to clash in tonight’s meeting in the cup, with Rudiger leading the Real Madrid defence at this moment in time and Rondón the inform striker heading into the clash.
The latter has had a fantastic 2024, ending the year as the joint top goal scorer in Liga MX before being the top goal scorer in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, being named in the Best XI of that tournament and winning the Golden Ball in it.
It’s a far cry from his miserable spell at Everton, where he arrived on a free transfer as an emergency option for Rafa Benitez and completely failed to make the grade.
His time there saw him coming up against Rudiger, who was playing for Chelsea at the time and their star man in defence before joining Real Madrid on a free transfer in 2022.
Rondón remembers coming up against him while he was on Merseyside and insists, he won’t be falling for the German’s tricks this time around.
_“I have faced him a couple of times in England,”_ he said.
_“I know he is quite annoying and that he likes to bother the forwards. It is his way of playing and he is respected. I have faced all kinds of defenders, Van Dijk or Yerry Mina in the national team, who is also quite annoying._
_“They are centre backs, their job is to make you lose control and lose focus, but at this stage of my career I will enjoy it like a child. I know what Rudiger’s tricks are, and I will not pay any attention to them.”_