Antonio Rudiger is by no means alone in feeling the pain of coming off second best to Barcelona — but the Germany defender is determined to take his opportunity to make amends on Tuesday night.

Chelsea have not played the Catalan giants since 2012, so the majority of the current Blues squad will not be carrying any scars going into the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie.

Yet, some have: Alvaro Morata lost in the Champions League Final to Messi and Co when he was at Juventus three years ago; Andreas Christensen suffered defeats home and away in the group stage last season while on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach; and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was on the receiving end for four La Liga defeats in a row during a three-year spell at Atletico Madrid. The Belgian was, however, part of Diego Simeone’s side that knocked Barca out of Europe’s premier club competition on their way to reaching the final in 2014.

But no-one has suffered a humiliation quite like Rudiger and his former Roma team-mates did in the 2015-16 campaign, when Barcelona destroyed them 6-1 at the Nou Camp.

It was the kind of display that haunts defenders for the rest of their careers. Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, who will face Chelsea on Tuesday, were virtually unstoppable and scored four goals between them.

Such was Rudiger’s anger afterwards over Roma’s weak resistance, he issued an apology to the club’s fans for their “disgusting performance”.

It is clear that night still rankles with the 24-year-old. The mere mention of it by Standard Sport during the build up to this encounter was met with a scowl and a blunt response.

Some might wonder whether such a painful memory will count against Rudiger’s chances of facing Barcelona this time around. After all, the sensitive reaction appeared to suggest a deep wound to his psyche remains.

Chelsea can ill afford for any of their squad to be playing against the likes of Messi with worry or self-doubt in their minds.

But Rudiger insists it will not be a problem for him, saying: “Football is played out on the pitch for 90 minutes, it is not what happens before. Anyone who has fear or something like that should not play. You have to be mentally ready when the referee blows the whistle. That’s it. I’m ready for them.

“My respect for them is good, but once the referee blows the whistle I will always try to win my games.

“Everyone knows what kind of quality Messi has. But we have to take this match. We are playing at home and it could be an advantage for us.

“When I was younger, I was dreaming about playing in a game like this. I think everyone does. I played against them before with AS Roma, but now I’m with Chelsea.”

Rudiger isn’t the only one at Chelsea with something to prove. The whole team is under scrutiny after an underwhelming season so far.

There have been impressive displays in high-profile victories over Tottenham, Atletico and Manchester United, but generally their form has been inconsistent. At least they go into the encounter off the back of two home wins, against West Brom and Hull. It means they have repaired some of the damage inflicted by heavy shock defeats to Bournemouth and Watford.

“It was important for us to bounce back after two defeats and is just what we needed,” added Rudiger. “We can go into the first leg with a good feeling. The mental side of playing in Europe is different. You can see Real Madrid haven’t been doing as well as they’re used to in the Spanish league, but in the Champions League they did very well against Paris St Germain last week (they won 3-1).

“This is a different competition, it’s two games. This is a chance for us to do things right and we have to take it. We all know Barcelona like having the ball. We have to try to make the match cat and mouse.

“Of course, it is important we have experienced players. In the last 16, everyone is tough. We are playing at home first and it will not be easy for them to come here, with the fans behind us. We have to do our job and try to do the best we can.”

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With the vast array of talent Barca have at their disposal, plus their impressive unbeaten record in La Liga, they have understandably been made strong favourites to progress. But Rudiger (below, right) believes Chelsea’s chances should not be written off.

“This is a game of high quality with two good teams,” he said. “There will be 11 players Barcelona players on the pitch and we will have to care about every one of them. But they will have to worry and care about players we have, like Eden Hazard, Olivier Giroud, Alvaro Morata and Cesc Fabregas.”