Newcastle United fans will remember Florian Lejeune very well, and he played a key role in helping Rayo Vallecano secure a point against Real Madrid yesterday and got in Antonio Rudiger’s head in the process.
The defender, who was signed for £8.7m in 2017, left in 2021 and has been in La Liga ever since, playing for both Alaves and Vallecano in that time.
Vallecano are currently ninth in the league and on Sunday night forced Los Blancos to drop points at home for the first time this season.
In the dying moments of the game, the Frenchman was involved in a heated argument with ex-Chelsea man Antonio Rudiger who very quickly got physical with Lejeune.
Former Newcastle star Lejeune was in Rudiger’s head
Towards the final minutes of injury time with the score still 0-0, the centre-back had forced Rudiger into a corner but eventually conceded a throw-in.
The Real Madrid defender did not take too kindly to the physicality of Lejeune and retaliated with a couple of shoves before grabbing him and saying something in his ear.
Rudiger was inevitably shown a yellow card for his antics on the pitch and the game would go on to finish 0-0, a huge result at the Bernabeu.
Lejeune also received a booking for his part in the coming together, although it was much less aggressive than his opponent.
Lejeune’s hero status on Tyneside
Most supporters will have fond memories of Lejeune’s time in black and white with his heroic efforts at Goodison Park one the greatest comebacks in recent memory.
Newcastle had been 2-0 down to Everton before the now 32-year-old netted twice in injury time to earn Steve Bruce’s side a point.
Though he had a tough time with injuries, Lejeune had been one of our best defenders under Steve Bruce, particularly with the ball at his feet.
Had the takeover and Eddie Howe arrived earlier, who knows what kind of player we could have had on our hands, you just have to look at Fabian Schar to see the kind of effect Howe can have.
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