The two players locked heads the last time the two teams went at loggerheads
Ever since he’s made a foray into the footballing arena, Luis Suarez has emerged as one of the dirtiest and most notorious players to have played the game. The petulant striker has not shied away from indulging in misdemeanours in a bid to score and gain an advantage over defenders.
The same was alluded to when Chelsea and Atletico Madrid took on each other for their round of 16 Champions League showdown. One of the talking points from that 1-0 Chelsea win was a second half incident between Antonio Rudiger and Suarez as both the players squared up to each other.
In the aftermath of the feud, images emerged of Suarez pinching Rudiger in a bid to win the ball. The Chelsea defender had retorted angrily to the act as he angrily got to his feet to hit out the Atletico Madrid striker.
Rudiger Speaks About Suarez’s Pinch
Speaking ahead of the two clubs second meeting this Wednesday, Rudiger talked about the incident and how it was not playing on his head ahead of the matchup.
“At the end of the day this is not something that gives me a boost or something like this,” the 28-year-old said.
“He defends his badge, I defend mine. This is all, this is all. I go with no feeling any pressure for his revenge or anything like this.
“I am just focussed on our targets and that is to win the game and get through, because Atletico is not only Luis Suarez.
“Honestly, he’s a world-class player. He’s shown it at every club he has been in Europe, Liverpool, Barcelona, Ajax, now Atletico. He’s a very, very good player and he has a lot of fight in him and obviously he’s a top opponent.
“He just defends his badge by trying to fight for his team.”
“To be honest, I just saw he pinched me when I saw the pictures on social media. In the game itself, I did not really feel it.
“It was emotions just like that, for me, nothing special.”
