Antonio Rudigerâs emotions got the better of him after his Chelsea side were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid on Tuesday night.The German defender produced an excellent individual display at the Bernabeu but was unable to prevent his team from losing 5-4 on aggregate.Trailing 3-1 after last weekâs first leg at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea had a mountain to climb in order to reach the semi-finals. But they were on the cusp of pulling off an extraordinary turnaround after going 3-0 up in the second leg thanks to goals from Mason Mount, Rudiger and Timo Werner.Thomas Tuchelâs side may have reached the last four had Luka Modric not been on the pitch. The veteran midfielderâs outrageous pass allowed Rodrygo Goes to send the tie to extra-time.Real Madrid then took the lead on aggregate in the 96th minute thanks to Karim Benzema, who further enhanced his chances of winning the 2022 Ballon dâOr following last weekâs hat-trick in west London.Kai Havertz and Jorginho spurned late chances to send the tie to a penalty shoot-out and it was all too much for Rudiger when referee Szymon Marciniak blew the final whistle, confirming Chelseaâs elimination from Europeâs premier competition.Clearly devastated, Rudiger was seen shouting before sinking to his knees and putting his head on the ground.David Alaba attempted to console Rudiger but Chelseaâs No. 2 wasnât interested. He wanted to be alone.
Rio Ferdinand enjoyed seeing Antonio Rudiger's emotional reaction
As the footage was shown live on BT Sport, Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand said: âItâs emotional. I donât think heâd necessarily want to react like that or see those pictures but you canât control the feeling. Weâve all been there after big games. Iâve said and done things that you regret, or you think âthatâs not me, thatâs not my normal personalityâ. But this is what football means to people.
âImagine that changing room, there will be things going flying. I kicked walls, I ended up kicking people at times. I got done at Chelsea for kicking someone by accident. You donât mean it, you just lose your head.
âBut I like to see that because thereâs emotion, thereâs care and a desire to win. They know what it means and how close they were.â
Watch the footage here:
What did Thomas Tuchel said about Antonio Rudiger?
Rudiger earned special praise from his manager after the match.
Tuchel, who slammed the referee for âsmiling and laughingâ with Carlo Ancelotti at end of the game, was quoted by The Metro saying:Â âToni was outstanding. It was a world-class performance in all belongings. It is what he does on an extremely high level.
âIt is his mentality and focus, and leadership all combined. It is outstanding. This is another example of what he can do after another. Thatâs it.â
MADRID, SPAIN - APRIL 12: Antonio Rudiger of Chelsea looks dejected after the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg Two match between Real Madrid and Chelsea FC at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on April 12, 2022 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
What did Antonio Rudiger say after Real Madrid defeated Chelsea?
Rudiger, meanwhile, told reporters: âThe positive is we didnât give up. Not many teams can come and dominate them as we did. But over the two legs if you make these kind of mistakes like we did, you get punished.
âThe game plan was to find our number 10s. To find the space. We found it and got the goal. We didnât panic. In the second half we did everything we could but over the two legs, as I said, you make these mistakes you get punished.
âIt was a do or die for us. I think before the game not everybody thought we would have the 3-0. For them the individual class comes to light with Modric and Benzema.â
Chelsea out of the Champions League (Football Terrace)
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