By Tom Gott
Antonio Rudiger has joked he plans to "smash" potential future teammate Kylian Mbappe if the pair meet in the Champions League final.
Rudiger's Real Madrid have been drawn on the opposite side of the bracket to Mbappe's Paris Saint-Germain and both sides are the favourites to emerge from their respective semi-final ties against Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Should both teams advance, it would mean Mbappe's final PSG game ahead of his expected move to Madrid this summer would come against his future employers, but Rudiger has vowed to give the Frenchman a tough time if they do butt heads.
"If we face him in the final we'll beat him," Rudiger told CARRE with a smile on his face. "And if he dribbles past me, I'll smash him."
Rudiger and Mbappe came face-to-face earlier this year when Germany and France met in a friendly, with Rudiger receiving huge praise for his performance in his side's 2-0 victory, but the Madrid star was not impressed by claims he had Mbappe "in his pocket".
"I find this disrespectful," he said. "Kylian is special. He won the World Cup at 18. I think he can become the best player in France's history."
It's that sort of generational talent which Rudiger believes would make Mbappe a perfect fit with Madrid.
"The best players in history have always come to Real Madrid," he said. "[Mbappe] is one of the best players in the world, so it would be a good match."
As it stands, there has been no concrete updates on Mbappe's future, although he is widely assumed to have agreed the terms of a deal with Madrid which will only be made public once it is no longer possible for Madrid to face PSG - perhaps after the Champions League final.
"Who says that he's coming?" Rudiger reminded fans. "It's not official."
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This article was originally published on 90min.com as Antonio Rudiger vows to 'smash' Kylian Mbappe in Champions League final.
