Antonio Rudiger sacrificed his body to snatch a late Champions League goal for Real Madrid against Shakhtar Donetsk two weeks ago - and he's still got the battle scars to show for it.

The 29-year-old former Chelsea centre-back suffered gruesome injuries when he collided with Shakhtar goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin in the act of scoring a 95th-minute equaliser as Los Blancos secured a 1-1 draw against the Ukrainian outfit.

Rudiger's heroic effort secured Real's place in the Champions League knockout stages, but left him dazed and bloodied in the process.

A wound on the German international's head reportedly required 20 stitches to close after the match.

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Rudiger took to social media before his side's flight back to the Spanish capital to assure fans that he was doing well, jokingly declaring: "I'm alive!"

An accompanying photo told the story of Rudiger's evening best, though. His entire head - together with his left eye were covered in blood-stained bandages.

Antonio Rudiger injured his eye scoring winner for Real two weeks ago - it still looks gruesome

Antonio Rudiger injured his eye scoring winner for Real two weeks ago - it still looks gruesome

Remarkably, the defender was back in action just five days later.

With the first El Clasico fixture of the season on the horizon just after the Shakhtar game, Rudiger was in no mood to take a leave of absence.

He came off the bench for Real in their 3-1 El Clasico victory over Barcelona. He has since featured in La Liga matches against Elche (wearing a protective mask) and Sevilla (wearing a headband).

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Carlo Ancelotti's men are back in Champions League action on Tuesday evening as they travel to RB Leipzig for a Matchday 5 encounter of the group stages.

Ahead of the match, Rudiger appeared before the media - still sporting very visible injuries.

Nearly a fortnight after the incident took place, the centre back's eye was still blood red, with a number of stitches still in place.

Antonio Rudiger's eye still looks gruesome two weeks after Shakhtar head clash

WARSAW, POLAND - OCTOBER 11: Antonio Rudiger of Real Madrid is seen injured after clashing with Anatoliy Trubin of Shakhtar Donetsk (not pictured) during the UEFA Champions League group F match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Madrid at Wojska Polskiego Stadium on October 11, 2022 in Warsaw, Poland. (Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images)

Images of the Real man resembling The Terminator soon started to do the rounds on social media - and you can check them out below (via ESPN FC on Twitter).

Antonio Rudiger's eye injury still looks gruesome two weeks after horror injury v Shakhtar

Nobody would have blamed Rudiger if he'd chosen to take some time to recover from such a significant knock.

To his credit, though, he hasn't missed a beat after it occurred. Playing at least a partial role in every Real game since Rudiger has also continued to train with Los Blancos and has even kept up his press commitments.

The player has displayed the mentality of an absolute warrior - and fans have been quick to praise him on social media.

We've included the best of their reaction below.

Rudiger injury tweet reaction
Rudiger injury tweet reaction
Rudiger injury tweet reaction
Rudiger injury tweet reaction
Rudiger injury tweet reaction
Rudiger injury tweet reaction

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