Maurizio Sarri has explained why he has benched Eden Hazard for Chelsea's Europa League semi-final first leg clash at Eintracht Frankfurt this evening.
It was something of a surprise to see the team news come out and that the 28-year-old was named as one of the substitutes rather than in the starting XI as was expected in the build up to the game.
Instead, Pedro and Willian were named on the flanks either side of the competition's top scorer Olivier Giroud, who is looking to add to his tally of ten goals that he has notched so far this season.
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But with Watford in the Premier League on Sunday, Sarri has decided that he wants to rest his star man after a long run of games.
"We have to play five matches in two weeks, with the same level of importance so we need to change," he said. "[Andreas] Christensen was the only centre-back available but he is available to play every match. He is improving, I have no doubt about him.
"For the same reason Hazard is on the bench as well, for two reasons. First of all because he played the last 10 matches in a row and secondly because usually he is really able to change the match from the bench.
"I think after 10 matches in a row he needs to rest. I don’t want him to play for 90 minutes."
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