Without much success, Premier League defenders have spent the whole season attempting to figure out how to stop Erling Haaland.
But perhaps they should learn from Antonio Rudiger, who on Tuesday night did a great job of keeping Manchester City's talisman quiet while playing for Real Madrid.
The Germans' tackling, anticipation, and placement did not alone assure 51 goals. Haaland experienced a rare bad night as well as some evil magic.
During the first leg of the Champions League semifinal at the Bernabeu, a video clip taken from the stands showed Rudiger purposefully upsetting Haaland as he clung to the City player like glue.
Rudiger begins by making a rugby tackle-like dive beneath Haaland's armpit and wrapping his arm around him.
Rudiger uses the same method on the opposite side of his body as the Norwegian swats him away, causing Haaland to use an arm and elbow to push him away.
Rudiger eventually leaves, but the extremely personal man-marking job obviously hurt Haaland.
While Vinicius Junior's rocket was cancelled out by Kevin De Bruyne, City's leading scorer, the two clubs will return to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday with a 1-1 tie.
Prior to the game, the Spanish press had referred to Haaland as a "monster," a "ogre," and a "machine," with sports daily AS even making fun of him as the Terminator.
However, Rudiger did well to keep Haaland quiet; according to UEFA data, the forward only completed 11 passes throughout the course of the game, had 21 touches, two shoots that were on target, and another shot that was blocked.
Haaland could add to his season total of 12 goals in the Champions League during the second leg, but he won't look forward to playing against Rudiger once more.
However, as they hugged after a fierce encounter, it was clear that the two had respect for one another.
The pundits on BT Sport praised Rudiger for keeping Haaland quiet.
Rio Ferdinand, a former defender for Manchester United and England, stated: "Militao is usually the first choice center-back, but he was out so Rudiger comes in."
'If you were to ask any player to enter European football right now, I probably would have said for aggression, application, and the way he takes pleasure in the physical aspect of the game.
Who in the Premier League has been willing to take him on in a one-on-one match and be as confident as Rudiger was today, as we have been talking about Haaland?
He had moments when he was outstanding and cunning. The second half saw him make one outstanding block. You need to approach Haaland aggressively, in my opinion.
I still don't believe they entirely neutralized him, but I believed today's center-back duo played him the best I've ever seen.
'You may be aggressive, but you've got to have the strength and the capability,' remarked Joleon Lescott, a former Man City defender, in agreement with Ferdinand. Players have attempted to be aggressive but have been unable to match the strength and pace, leaving Rudiger alone.
When the ball was far away from him, we were watching him as he was being pushed and pulled around. Although it is a forward-looking design, I don't believe every center back can adopt it.
When asked if Rudiger should begin the second leg, their co-pundit Michael Owen responded, "You'd say so." His performance was fantastic, but the following game will be quite different.
You'd be wrong to believe that I had Haaland's phone number. He can score any kind of goal, and I have no doubt he will receive more assistance.
The European media also took notice of Haaland's quiet performance, giving the City player only three out of ten in their player ratings in L'Equipe in France and Marca in Spain.
At the Bernabeu, his father Alf-Inge embarrassed himself by being dragged out of a VIP box for "throwing peanuts and insults at home fans."
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