Christensen just happy to get some game-time from Sarri

Andreas Christensen has been a regular for Chelsea in all competitions except the main one, the Premier League, and that’s clearly not sat well with the 22-year-old this season. But his game time is picking up a bit once again as the Blues resume this year’s Europa League campaign, in addition to fighting on all the other league and Cup fronts.

Last night he made his 15th appearance of the season, playing the full 90 as Chelsea beat Malmö FF in the first leg of the Europa League Round of 32, just as he had played every single previous minute of our European campaign so far. Born just across the narrow sea in Denmark, it was almost a homecoming for Christensen (not to be confused with Malmö goalscorer Anders Christiansen) to be playing on the Southern coast of Sweden.

“It is super nice to get a little bit of game-time again. There has been a long time between appearances, so it was nice to get the feeling of being on the field and of battling it out, getting my match-fitness up and running again.”

Christensen, like Azpilicueta, was annoyed to concede the late consolation to his countryman and near-namesake, but was happy with the win especially after the stressful last few weeks at the club.

“I think we started out okay and tried to play fast, and we also got a goal relatively quickly, which was important. We started to relax a little more after the goal...”

-Andreas Christensen; source: Bold.dk via Google Translate

Presumably, Christensen will start the return leg next Thursday as well, but will likely rotate out for the FA Cup last 16 clash against Manchester United on Monday.

His future beyond that is shrouded in mystery however. He should be part of our long-term solution at center back, but those intentions won’t do anyone any good if he decides to leave before then.