Sarri: It Was Right To Bench Hazard

By Joshua Walters

Chelsea manager, Maurizio Sarri, has stuck by his decision to leave out Eden Hazard from his starting eleven in the 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday.

Hazard was conspicuously missing from the Blues line up from the start in Germany, and Sarri has attributed his decision to Chelsea’s upcoming tough schedule as they bid to reach the Champions League next season.

Chelsea got a crucial away goal in Germany after Pedro’s 45th minute equalizer cancelled out Luka Jovic’s opener for the hosts.

Sarri reckons Hazard, who was introduced into the game just after the hour mark for Willian, took the decision well.

“For a player that has 70 matches in a season, starting him from the bench is a normal reaction,” Sarri said after the game.

“We have to play again after 62 hours.”

“I don’t speak with the players that I want to put on the bench,” he added.

“He is a player, so I have to do it otherwise I have to speak to everyone. He was a normal way, joking as usual. He knows the truth very well.”

“We have to play five matches in two weeks with the same importance,” added Sarri. We don’t know yet which is the right way. We want both – the Champions League and the Europa League win.”

“This time we don’t want to just play the final, we want to win it.”

Chelsea can secure passage to the Champions League next season by winning the Europa League final in Baku later this month if they fail to make the Premier League top four, but they first have to see off Frankfurt in next week’s semi-final second leg.

The Blues are back in action with a Premier League game against Watford on Sunday at Stamford Bridge in the penultimate game of the season.