Real Madrid defender Toni Rudiger has revealed the special welcome coach Carlo Ancelotti gave him.
The 29-year-old may not have been working under him for long, but he already has glowing words for Ancelotti and the way he treats his players.
“I had only been in our new house with my family for a few hours – we were just barbecuing – and the doorbell suddenly rang. I opened it and Carlo Ancelotti was just standing in front of me. A wow moment,” Rudiger told Sport1.
“He sat down at the table with us, ate with us and got to know my family. Very normal, very down-to-earth. He was there for two hours, we talked about everything.
“I’ll be honest, I’ve never experienced anything like it, no coach has ever done something like that for me. After the few months with him, I have to say: When it comes to dealing with players, Ancelotti is untouchable. Stop Don Carlo, a coaching legend – he already collected Champions League titles when I was a child. Working with him every day now and at the most successful club in the world is wonderful.”
Rudiger also discussed his move from Chelsea and said that there was never a third option: in his mind he was only interested in staying at the Blues or joining Madrid.
“There were only two options for me: either I stay at Chelsea or I go to Real. Germany was not a serious prospect,” explained Rudiger.
“At the end of April, it [a move to Real Madrid] became really concrete. But before everything was clear, my brother fooled me a bit.
“We played with Chelsea against Real in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. After the first-leg defeat, he suddenly said to me: ‘Toni, I don’t know if this will still work. In the second leg, you have to show everything so that the change works.’ My head was shattered, but that spurred me on.”
