Rüdiger held out of Germany training for after complaining about back problems

Antonio Rüdiger missed training on Monday for Germany after complaining about back problems and being held out from Die Mannschaft’s final preparations for their game against North Macedonia tomorrow.

Presumably Rüdiger won’t play even if head coach Hansi Flick said it was a precautionary measure to hold him out and that he’s doing well after receiving some treatment.

“We have all the players on board. I assume that everyone can play. Antonio Rüdiger didn’t train as a precautionary measure, he received treatment and was doing well today”

-Hansi Flick; source: @iMiaSanMia

Rüdiger has been ever-present for Chelsea not only this season, but ever since Thomas Tuchel took over at the star to the calendar year — and even before then during the final days of Frank Lampard’s tenure. In fact, Rüdiger’s the one irreplaceable member of the our first-choice back-three, with Silva and Christensen able to both cover the center and Azpilicueta, Christensen, or Chalobah or able to play on the right end.

Hopefully the back problem is indeed just minor, and like the muscle overload for Romelu Lukaku, can be treated just with some extra rest this week.