Eden Hazard was not given a special explanation from Maurizio Sarri after he started Chelsea’s 1-1 Europa League semi-final draw at Eintracht Frankfurt on the bench.
The Blues impressed despite falling behind to a fabulous header from highly rated Eintracht forward Luka Jovic, making most of the running after Pedro fired home an equaliser shortly before half-time.
Hazard came on after the hour as Chelsea sought to drive home their control of the contest and they are in a prosperous position for next week’s return at Stamford Bridge.
“Eden was on the bench because, in the last period, he played 10 matches in a row,” the former Napoli boss told a post-match news conference.
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“It’s impossible to play that many. For us, this was match number 59 I think, and Hazard also played eight matches in the national team.
“For a player, it’s impossible to play 70-75 matches in a season. And so, sometimes, Hazard like all the other players needs to rest. Or not to rest, but not to play for 90 minutes.”