Champions League hurting Blues’ chances, says Hazard

LONDON: Eden Hazard admits Chelsea are experiencing a more gruelling December than during last season’s English Premier League title- winning campaign because of the club’s involvement in the Champions League.

Antonio Conte’s side welcome Southampton to Stamford Bridge this weekend after recovering from the shock defeat at West Ham with a convincing 3-1 midweek win at Huddersfield.

The display against the newly-promoted Yorkshire side highlighted Chelsea’s forward strengths with Hazard combining well with Willian and Pedro to overwhelm the hosts.

The win opened up a four-point gap to fifth place and while Conte may have already conceded his side have no hope of defending their title, they are making impressive headway towards the target of ensuring their return to the Champions League next season.

Having failed to qualify for last season’s European football, Conte’s side benefited from a reduced fixture list that contributed to them eventually becoming champions.

This time around, the Chelsea head coach has been forced to manage his squad in a different way and Hazard admits the additional demands have taken their toll.

“We have a lot of games in a short period,” said the Belgium playmaker.

“Last year we didn’t have this because we weren’t in the Champions League, but since I came to Chelsea, for six years now it has been the same. We can deal with that.

“We have a lot of players. Of course you want to rest a little bit more but it’s not possible.

“We had a bad game against West Ham.

“When things happen like this we need to bounce back.

“We did that, and we scored three goals.

“I think the fans are happy, we are happy, so now let’s move forward for the game against Southampton at Stamford Bridge.” — AFP