Antonio Rudiger has denied biting Paul Pogba, but admits he was in the wrong following his bizarre altercation with the Les Bleus midfielder during Germany’s Euro 2020 defeat against France in Munich.

Chelsea defender Rudiger appeared to nibble the back of Pogba’s neck and tweak his nipple in the latter stages of the first half of Germany’s opening group F defeat by France.

Manchester United star Pogba initially reacted in shock, but later insisted Rudiger should face no punishment.

Rudiger, 28, denied biting the France star but conceded that the incident looks ‘unfortunate’.

He said: “I should not come close with my mouth to his back, no doubt about it.

“It looks unfortunate. Paul and I have talked about it as friends after the final whistle.

“And he stated in our little talk and talking to the press that it was no bite, as some viewers first thought it was.

“Even during the match, the ref told me that he would have punished me if he thought that it was violent conduct.”

Referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande and his team of officials took no action during the Munich encounter, and Pogba quickly insisted after the match that he agreed with that stance.

“I’m not crying for cards, yellow, red cards, because of such actions,’ said Pogba. ‘He nibbled, I think, a little bit on me. But we have known each other for a long time.

“I told the referee and he takes decisions and he took a decision. It’s over. It was a great match for us, and I didn’t want him to be suspended because of such a situation.

“It was towards the end of the match. We hugged each other and that’s it.”