Chelsea renew their Champions League rivalry against Barcelona with Eden Hazard eager to prove his pedigree at this elite level and justify the regular comparisons with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Hazard, who was a semi-finalist in this competition in 2014, has offered only glimpses of his qualities in previous European campaigns but will have an opportunity to make a more eye-catching impact as the unbeaten leaders of La Liga visit Stamford Bridge. Antonio Conte is considering using the Belgian as a false No 9 with Álvaro Morata having played only 49 minutes of football in the last five weeks and with his side prepared to play on the counter.
Yet their leading scorer has his own motivation to impress. “There is more to come from me in this competition,” said Hazard, who has never played against Barça and has only once been an opponent of Messi, in Belgium’s defeat by Argentina at the 2014 World Cup in Brasilia. “Every game I try to play my best football, in the Premier League and, after we didn’t play in the Champions League last season, back [at this level] this year.
“I’ve played a few good games this season: Atlético Madrid away, Roma here, and against Madrid. You want to shine when you play the best in the world. If I want to reach that level, I need to do a great game. It’s good to be compared with the greatest ever, Messi or Ronaldo. But I’m completely different. I try to do my job and try to reach their level, because they are the best in the world. But if you want to be one of the best, you have to play well in the big games. This is a big game and we are Chelsea. We are the champions of England. We are ready. We can face them, we can beat them. Let’s go for it.”
Conte, who will have Marcos Alonso available at left wing-back after a hamstring problem, admitted to sleepless nights since last Friday’s FA Cup fifth-round win over Hull City as he prepared for the first leg of this last-16 tie. “We have to play a perfect game against Barcelona if we want to win,” said the manager. “On paper you start these two games with one favourite and this is Barcelona, so it was difficult to sleep well after the FA Cup tie.
“You have to prepare everything for a game like this, from the big things to the smallest details. We have an idea. We have a plan in our heads. In this specific moment it’s very important to pick the players who are at the top of their form and then try and do our best to win the game. It is a big challenge for us against one of the best in the world, but these two games will show us our level in this competition. We must be prepared to suffer, but also to have ambition.”
