"At the end of April it became really concrete," Toni Rudiger told Sport1 about his move to Real Madrid.
"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 [my brother] 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, that spurred me on.
"After Timo Werner made it 3-0, I thought: They're gone! No other team had Real on their hands like we did – in their own stadium, ten minutes before the end.
"I then speculated that the fans would go a little against their team and whistle. I also wanted to tease a bit myself [laughs] . But there was nothing to tease about. The fans screamed like Real scored and not us.
"There's something in the air here, I thought. And then four minutes later that outside-instep pass from Modric - and things took their course."
"For me it was only 2 options, either I stay at Chelsea or leave to Real Madrid. That’s it," Rudiger added.
Chelsea lost the first leg against Madrid at home 3-1. The Blues were 3-0 up after Werner's goal in the 75th minute but Ancelotti's side pulled off a comeback. First they scored in the 86th minute, taking the game to extra time. In the 96th minute, Benzema netted to make it 3-2, sending Madrid into the semi-final.
Rudiger left Chelsea on contract expiry in the summer, joining Real Madrid as free agent.
