Rudiger was left stunned that his toughest opponent didn't play at higher level

Having played in the Premier League, LaLiga and the Bundesliga, Rudiger has had the unenviable task of keeping some of the deadliest strikers quiet.

The Real Madrid star has come up against the likes of Luis Suarez, Karim Benzema, Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski throughout the course of his career.

However, it was not a forward that Rudiger declared as the most difficult rival he'd encountered.

Instead, it was a midfielder he played just twice.

Speaking on an episode of The Inside Scoop, Rudiger revealed former Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele was his toughest opponent.

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But the 31-year-old was left in disbelief that the north London side was the highest level he played at in terms of clubs.

"Like, wow," Rudiger said.

"This guy, that he didn't play, no disrespect to Tottenham, but that he didn't play at a bigger club, I don't know how. I really don't know how, because he had everything.

"This guy, I've never seen someone so strong like him. He was like a wall.

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"And technique, he doesn't know pressure. You can pass him the ball, two men can be behind him, no problem."

The only times Rudiger and Dembele came up against one another was in the 2017/18 Premier League season.

Chelsea got the better of Tottenham in the first encounter in August 2017, winning 2-1 as both played the full match.

But Tottenham got their revenge in the return fixture at Stamford Bridge as they won 3-1 in April 2018.

Rudiger is not the first person to have made such a strong claim about Dembele's remarkable ability.

Martin Jol, who was in charge during Dembele's stay at Fulham, waxed lyrical about the Belgian after Tottenham triggered his £15million release clause in August 2012.

"We've had a few players over the last few years who are a class above," Jol said in 2012.

"Dembele is probably the best player on the ball I've ever seen, and we lost him."

Following his move from Fulham, Dembele went on to make 249 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham.

But his time in north London came to an end in January 2019 as Dembele joined Chinese Super League side Guangzhou R&F for just £11m.

He only turned out 47 times for the Chinese outfit before electing to retire at the end of the 2022 CSL season.