Antonio Rudiger has reacted after his Real Madrid side were drawn against former employers Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-finals on Friday morning
Antonio Rudiger is delighted to face his former club for the first time since leaving Chelsea following Real Madrid’s draw with the Blues in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The 30-year-old moved to the Santiago Bernabau in the summer after his contract with the Blues expired following a successful five-year spell in west London. Rudiger has been a mainstay in the Los Blancos squad since his transfer, making 37 appearances in all competitions so far.
Although Rudiger’s Real are nine points behind runaway leaders Barcelona in La Liga, their form in the Champions League has been exemplary despite losing to RB Leizpig. They topped their group ahead of German side Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic, picking up 13 points out of a possible 18.
After comfortably beating Liverpool 6-2 on aggregate in the round of 16, Real’s reward is a quarter-final draw against Chelsea, which is set to take place next month. Carlo Ancelotti’s side beat the Reds 5-2 in the first leg at Anfield, before claiming a 1-0 victory in Spain earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Graham Potter’s Blues beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 on aggregate thanks to goals from Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz. After the draw, Rudiger reacted on social media and is relishing the chance to face his former employers for the first time.
“It will be very special – Can’t wait to see so many friends again,” he posted on Twitter on Friday. Rudiger’s post has received a lot of love from Chelsea supporters. However, some have reminded the defender that they will be more eager than ever to beat his team in the last eight.
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Rudiger isn’t the only former Chelsea player to now represent Real Madrid, with Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard the other two after making the switch in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Meanwhile, Mateo Kovacic will come up against his old side again, having faced Real in the previous two seasons.
Potter spoke about his team’s draw during his pre-Everton press conference on Friday afternoon and he admitted he was looking forward to the draw against Los Blancos. “The feeling is the excitement. I said we’ll try to win the Champions League and the same goes for the other seven clubs in the draw, I’m sure,” Potter said.
However, he revealed he wants to focus on Chelsea’s Premier League campaign for the time being. Potter added: “We will focus on Real Madrid when we get there, but at the moment our thoughts are on tomorrow and Everton. I prefer to focus on Everton because other things are far away.”
Before Chelsea travel to Madrid in the first leg on April 11, they have four crucial league matches in the form of Everton, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Wolves as they look to close the gap on places of the Champions League. They are currently 11 points behind fourth place Tottenham in the table.
