Wednesday’s Champions League showdown between Real Madrid and Chelsea will see Frank Lampard come up against Antonio Rudiger.

Lampard nearly sold Rudiger during his first spell in charge at Chelsea only for the centre-back to thrive under Thomas Tuchel but Lampard insists there are no hard feelings.

Rudiger finally left Chelsea as a free agent last summer to join Real Madrid.

“I think Toni Rudiger has done fantastically well. When I last saw him – I was Everton manager [playing against] Chelsea – I wished him well with the Madrid move, which was happening at the time,” said Lampard.

“My relationship with him was fine. A lot of people obviously like to speculate on relationships outside of the football club, and as a manager of Chelsea – which I was and I am again now – you have 25, 27 players, you have decisions to make every week.

“Antonio Rudiger played a lot for me. But obviously our story ended and another story continued as part of a successful Champions League-winning team. And he was a big part of it.

“And now he’s had his move, so good luck to him. Good luck to any professional who works as hard as Toni has in his career. From the early part of his career to coming and playing for Chelsea and Real Madrid, he fully deserves it.”