Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has suggested that Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger could be set to ‘regret’ his emotional reaction to the Blues' heart-wrenching loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League. The German was on the end of a gutting 5-4 aggregate loss to the Spanish giants on Tuesday evening, having at one point looked like part of a side that was set to secure another memorable European victory.
The Blues raced into a 3-0 lead at the Santiago Bernabeu on the night, Mason Mount, Timo Werner and Rudiger himself all finding the net. However, Los Blancos then edged themselves ahead again thanks to Rodrygo’s strike and Karim Benzema’s extra-time winner.
Upon the final whistle in Spain, Rudiger did not react too kindly to Chelsea ’s elimination. After former Bayern Munich star David Alaba attempted to console him, the German was pictured pushing away before falling to his knees.
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Ferdinand has hinted that the defender could be set to regret his reaction, but did understand why he displayed his emotion in that way having been involved in extremely similar scenarios.
Talking to BT Sport, the ex-Manchester United man said: “It’s emotional, man. And I don’t think he’d necessarily want to react like that or see those pictures.
“But the feeling there you can’t control it. We’ve all been there after big games, I’ve said and done things that you regret, you think: ‘that’s not me, that’s not my normal personality’. But this is what football means to people.”
Whilst Rudiger will of course be disappointed by the result, his goal on the night was certainly an intriguing event in relation to his future. With his Chelsea contract set to expire at the end of the current season, the former AS Roma man has been linked with a switch to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Meanwhile, Los Blancos’ great rivals Barcelona are also seemingly in the running for his services, whilst their chase of Andreas Christensen looks set to continue.
