The defender admits he took an unnecessary risk by getting too close to the midfielder, but also insists that he never meant to cause him any harm
Antonio Rudiger has denied biting Paul Pogba in Germany's defeat to France, but does concede that the pictures of the incident looked "unfortunate".
France opened their Euro 2020 campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Germany, who are now facing an uphill battle to qualify from Group F.
A Mats Hummels own goal proved to be the difference between the two sides, while Rudiger was perhaps a touch fortunate not to receive any punishment from match referee Carlos del Cerro Grande after a bizarre clash with Pogba.