Impact After suffering a face injury late in the first leg against Real Madrid, Rudiger will be wearing a mask on Wednesday. While he assisted on the first leg, the center-back will be difficult to rely on given that it was his first goal of the season. Chelsea will need their other defenders to step up. Rudiger's Injury Rudiger suffered the injury during the 1-1 draw with Real Madrid on November 11. He came off after being kicked by Luka Modrić and did not return to the field for the remainder of the match. At the time, Rudiger didn't appear worried about the injury but later stated after the game that he felt something "pop" in his face when Modrić stepped up his challenge. He ended up needing 15 minutes of treatment before coming out of the match and leaving the stadium in pain. He returned home to Germany where he had an injection in an attempt to speed up his recovery process. However, three days after returning to London, he was back in Germany for more treatment on his ankle. Rudiger has not played since and will miss Wednesday's match against Liverpool (AEDT). Chelsea Need Him There's no doubt that Rudiger is one of the best central defenders in the world right now and losing him would be a big blow to their title defense.