Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger was called up to the starting XI for the first time in this 2020-21 campaign as Chelsea faced Krasnodar in the Champions League group stage match. The German international replaced Chelsea’s veteran defender, Thiago Silva who didn’t travel to Russia with the squad.
The 27 years old defender made his first start on Wednesday night where the Blues eased past Krasnodar with a 4-0 win. Yet again Chelsea kept a clean sheet, which is the third consecutive of this season. Lampard said how impressed he is with Rudiger’s professionalism on the pitch and in training.
‘I am very pleased with the performance of Rudiger and Zouma. They can take credit for the clean sheet amongst other players.
‘I didn’t have doubts over Toni. His training and professionalism has been clear since I’ve been here, certainly in recent weeks, and I was pleased with the back five’s concentration levels to have a real desire to keep a clean sheet,’ said Lampard on Chelsea’s Official site.
The German centre-back was decided to take an exit from Stamford Bridge before the summer transfer window. This was as a result of falling down the pecking order following the likes of Kurt Zouma, Fikayo Tomori, Andreas Christensen, and Silva all before him.
Although his transfer failed at the last moment, he has shown professionalism to get back into the starting XI of Chelsea and left Lampard impressed. His main aim to get into the national team has been shown by his desire to work hard and get through all odds.
Rudiger was also included in the squad on Saturday where the Blues played against Manchester United at Old Trafford. In this match, Lampard opted for a back four which featured Rudiger partnering with Kurt Zouma as centre-back pair.
