Not for the first time in recent weeks, Eden Hazard has made it clear that his ultimate goal is winning the Champions League. Considering that he signed with Chelsea in large part due to the club’s miracle run to the final and subsequent win in Munich in 2012, this shouldn’t be surprising, but only recently has he become so specific in this ambition, to add the one big trophy missing from his personal trophy cabinet.
“This year is really important. I have reached the semi-final with Chelsea [in 2014], when we lost to Atletico Madrid, so it’s in my head to win this trophy.
“I have won the Premier League, I have won the title in France, I have won cups, but big players always want to win the Champions League. I think now it is time to win this. We have a good squad, we have a good manager, so we are ready for it.”
These quotes mirror quotes from Marca’s big interview last week, and as Chelsea embark on this year’s Champions League campaign on Tuesday after a year’s hiatus, they will be quotes to live by.
“We’ve got seven games in three weeks and it’s completely different from last season, but we are professionals and we understand this kind of situation. We just want to play. If sometimes players are tired, somebody else can come into the team - we don’t have a problem with that.
“Last year we had long weeks to get ready for our Premier League games at the weekend. This season will be different because we’ll play on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, but we have a good team and we have a lot of good players and I think the manager knows that. He has the experience in both the Premier League and Champions League, so I think we can do that.”
-Eden Hazard; source: Telegraph
Hazard, who was the first player to publicly acknowledge Chelsea’s title ambitions last season, will be a key determining factor, as ever, in how far Chelsea progress, but if he’s firing on all cylinders, and that’s matched with confidence and determination from the rest of the squad ... well, why not us?