Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger has explained how Maurizio Sarri’s “terrifying” reaction after the defeat to Wolves helped inspire their win over Manchester City at the weekend.

The Blues were comfortably the better side at Molineux before two quickfire goals from their opponents in the second half inflicted the London club’s second defeat in three Premier League games.

Rudiger believes Sarri motivated the players to improve their effort and resilience against City:

“After the Wolves game, he [Sarri] was terrifying. He was going crazy. But that was okay because we shouldn’t have lost this match.”

“The day after, [Sarri] was very calm and clear-minded. He spoke with us and made it clear that we have to believe in ourselves. He wanted us to go into the City game looking for the win.”

“We spoke together. We all knew what was going on, we didn’t have to lie to ourselves: the mentality was the problem.”

Chelsea put in a much improved defensive display on Saturday evening and kept a clean sheet despite having to endure heavy pressure from their opponents in the first half.

Still, they managed to hold out and chose their moments to go forward and attack City. They were clinical in front of goal, unlike against Wolves, and this new-found steeliness will be needed heading into an intense Christmas period.

The Blues have six fixtures in the next 19 days, starting with the final Europa League group fixture against Vidi on Thursday night.