Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger is feeling determined to beat Barcelona in the Champions League after a number of previous losses to the Spanish giants, as reported by the London Evening Standard.
Antonio Conte’s men face the La Liga leaders in the first leg of their Champions League tie in the last 16 at Stamford Bridge having not faced them since 2012 in Europe.
Blues centre-back Rudiger says he won’t be playing with any self doubt in his mind having come up against Lionel Messi and his teammates on a number of different occasions.
My respect for them is good, but once the referee blows the whistle I will always try to win my games. Everyone knows what kind of quality Messi has. But we have to take this match. We are playing at home and it could be an advantage for us.
When I was younger, I was dreaming about playing in a game like this. I think everyone does. I played against them before with AS Roma, but now I’m with Chelsea.
Rudiger isn’t the only current Blues player to have been on the receiving end of a loss to Barcelona, with other first-team players such as Alvaro Morata, Andreas Christensen and Thibaut Courtois all experiencing similar times to the defender.
The German international suffered a 6-1 defeat at the hands of Barcelona in his time at Roma in the 2015-2016 season so will be keen to avoid this in the tie.
Rudiger is ready for the fight in what will be a difficult encounter against the Spanish leaders ahead of a big night for the club at Stamford Bridge tomorrow night.
