Although this meant that Rudiger missed both stages of our semi-final in the Europa League and the final itself, he still contributed to this success with his four starts in the race and he was there in Baku and enthusiastically watched from the sidelines, pulling the Chelsea shirt and to jump around with his crutches to celebrate as ecstatically as anyone else when we picked up the trophy.
After several disappointing false starts, Rudiger finally returned from this unpleasant injury in December 2019, at which time Frank Lampard was in the dugout. He returned to the team and celebrated his 100th appearance at Chelsea, scoring two headers to win us an important point against our rivals for a place in the Leicester City four, celebrated as always in a passionate but sometimes strange way.
He retained his place in the country when football resumed after a three-month halt to the sport in 2020. At the age of 27, it was clear that he was growing up as a player. Outbursts of emotion larger than life remained, but now they seemed more focused as he begged and urged his teammates as he shouted instructions, which became even more apparent from the absence of supporters in the stadiums.
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