The Chelsea defender started for Joachim Low’s side and assisted the first German goal, turning his marker superbly and sending over a fine cross that was fired home emphatically by fellow centre-back, Matthias Ginter.

The Germans doubled their advantage through Leon Goretzka, with the Bayern Munich man capitalising on a goalkeeping mistake to fire home.

The hosts did halve the deficit through a Ruslan Malinovskiy penalty to make it a nervy finish but Ukraine, managed by former Blues striker Andriy Shevchenko, couldn’t find an equaliser and Germany held on to secure a big three points.

Rudiger came through the whole 90 minutes, while his Chelsea team-mates Werner and Havertz both added to their cap collections by appearing as late substitutes.

Elsewhere, Kepa Arrizabalaga was an unused substitute for Spain as they defeated Switzerland 1-0 in the same Nations League group as Germany. Mikel Oyarzabal netting the only goal of the game in Madrid.

Earlier on Saturday, in the early hours, Thiago Silva put in an assured performance at the heart of defence as Brazil brushed aside Bolivia 5-0 in a World Cup qualifier.

Roberto Firmino led the attack for Brazil, netting twice, with Marquinhos, Phillipe Coutinho and an own goal securing a big win in Sao Paulo. Thiago played well for the Selecao, although did pick up a booking before he was substituted.