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Football

06th Apr 2021

Ben Chilwell pokes fun at Rudiger-Kepa bust-up with pretend punch on Kurt Zouma

Simon Lloyd

Chelsea’s players – or at least Ben Chilwell – appear to see the funny side to the training ground bust-up

As far as training ground bust-ups go, it has to be said that reports of what happened – or *didn’t* happen – between Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger and Kepa Arrizabalaga on Sunday was… well, pretty underwhelming.

The day after the club’s capitulation at the hands of West Brom, Rudiger is said to have caught Kepa with a late challenge during a small-sided game, sparking an angry reaction from the goalkeeper. Words and a few shoves were exchanged before teammates intervened, but Rudiger was sent away from the session early after failing to calm down.

The German apologised later on, but it did prompt some to question whether all was well in the Chelsea camp ahead of their Champions League quarter final with Porto.

Footage from their latest training session, however, suggests there is little in the way of tension amongst the team ahead of the game in Portugal and, if anything, Chelsea’s players are seeing the funny side to what happened.

Spotting some of the cameras invited to record Tuesday’s session, Ben Chilwell can be seen pretending to throw a punch at Kurt Zouma as the players make their way to the pitch.

https://twitter.com/SW6_Sam/status/1379382225955880961

Chelsea’s loss at the weekend – coupled with West Ham’s Monday night win at Wolves – means Thomas Tuchel’s side have dropped out of the Champions League places with eight Premier League fixtures remaining.

After their game with Porto, they will hope to get back on track domestically in their visit to Crystal Palace on Saturday.