Antonio Rudiger lost it after Chelsea’s defeat v Real Madrid - Rio Ferdinand understood

Antonio Rudiger’s emotions got the better of him after his Chelsea side were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid on Tuesday night.

The German defender produced an excellent individual display at the Bernabeu but was unable to prevent his team from losing 5-4 on aggregate.

Trailing 3-1 after last week’s first leg at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea had a mountain to climb in order to reach the semi-finals. But they were on the cusp of pulling off an extraordinary turnaround after going 3-0 up in the second leg thanks to goals from Mason Mount, Rudiger and Timo Werner.

Thomas Tuchel’s side may have reached the last four had Luka Modric not been on the pitch. The veteran midfielder’s outrageous pass allowed Rodrygo Goes to send the tie to extra-time.

Real Madrid then took the lead on aggregate in the 96th minute thanks to Karim Benzema, who further enhanced his chances of winning the 2022 Ballon d’Or following last week’s hat-trick in west London.

Kai Havertz and Jorginho spurned late chances to send the tie to a penalty shoot-out and it was all too much for Rudiger when referee Szymon Marciniak blew the final whistle, confirming Chelsea’s elimination from Europe’s premier competition.

Clearly devastated, Rudiger was seen shouting before sinking to his knees and putting his head on the ground.

David Alaba attempted to console Rudiger but Chelsea’s No. 2 wasn’t interested. He wanted to be alone.

As the footage was shown live on BT Sport, Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand said: “It’s emotional. I don’t think he’d necessarily want to react like that or see those pictures but you can’t control the feeling. We’ve all been there after big games. I’ve said and done things that you regret, or you think ‘that’s not me,