Chelsea will come up against their former star Eden Hazard tonight when the Blues take on Real Madrid in the semi-final of the Champions League.
Thomas Tuchel's team are in the Spanish capital for the first leg of the tie and their former player has returned to fitness just in time for their visit.
Hazard has endured a torrid time with injury since his move to Spain but featured for 13 minutes off the bench on Saturday, with Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane saying after the match: "He had spark, energy. He had no pain and the feelings are good."
Another former Blues man Thibaut Courtois confirmed Hazard was ready for the semi-final. The goalkeeper said: "He has trained with us for two or three weeks and he looked very good. He will be very important for us from now until the end of the season."
Hazard's former Chelsea teammates know what to expect when coming up against the Belgian, but knowing what he is going to do and stopping him are two totally different things.
Blues midfielder Jorginho once described the attacking-midfielder as "the best player" he had ever played with.
Speaking to the Chelsea website in 2018, the Italian said: "Eden Hazard is someone who every time he touches the ball you feel he’s going to score or pull off an amazing move.
"He’s different to the rest, he has incredible potential and undoubtedly he’s the best player I’ve played with up until this point.
"He’s somebody who can decide a match on his own, he can create something out of absolutely nothing and that gives his teammates a lot of confidence to give him the ball and to trust him."
Jorginho is not the only Blues player to praise Hazard, Olivier Giroud's sentiments about the 30-year-old echo the Italians.
"He is the best player I’ve ever played with," Giroud told Canal+ in 2019.
Cesar Azpilicueta may come head-to-head with his 'very good friend' tonight as the Chelsea captain was full of compliments for the Belgian back in 2019.
"He has amazing talent and the way the way he can create the difference is very rare to see," Azpilicueta said.
The Blues skipper will be sure to put his friendship aside for the 180 minutes of the tie as he looks to lead his team past the 13 times Champions of Europe into just their third Champions League final.
