Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger has been ruled out of tomorrow evening’s Champions League opener against Valencia.
The Germany international, aged 26, made his first appearance since April in last weekend’s 2-5 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Rudiger started at Molineux on Saturday, but was forced off at half-time.
Head coach Frank Lampard has now confirmed that the injury is a groin problem that Rudiger has been carrying for a few weeks.
Lampard told reporters at his pre-match press conference: “Toni is injured. He’s bothered a small groin problem that he’s been carrying for a few weeks and will have a scan later today.”
The Blues host their Spanish opponents at Stamford Bridge tomorrow evening in their first group game.
In Rudiger’s absence, Lampard will have to decide whether to pick two or three from Kurt Zouma, Fikayo Tomori and Andreas Christensen to start against Los Che. Zouma, aged 24, is the veteran of that group, with Christensen aged 23 and academy product Tomori just 21 years old.
Former Roma man Rudiger had been sidelined with a serious knee injury since the 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on April 28.
