Chelsea winger Eden Hazard has admitted for the first time that he may be a bit tired after having played almost 50 games for club and country this season.
The wizard was substituted after just 60 minutes in Belgium’s Euro 2016 qualifying match against Israel. A 1-0 win for Belgium continued their impressive form in the qualification campaign, but Hazard did not played the full 90 minutes. The 24-year-old was visibly displeased with his manager, but he later admitted that Marc Wilmots may have correctly found out that he is no longer fresh.
Jose Mourinho and Hazard share a great relationship and the 24-year-old has been a virtual untouchable in the Chelsea starting line-up. He has played in every match of the Premier League this season. Even though he has been playing a lot of games, his figures have improved year-on-year. This season, he has scored 16 goals and contributed eight assists in 36 matches. He is on course to bettering his goal tally from last season after he has managed three goals in his last four appearances.Hazard is not expected to be rested by Mourinho for the weekend’s match against Stoke City at Stamford Bridge. The Belgian winger is an extremely important player for Chelsea in the title race.
“I was a little bit surprised to be substituted. Also, I was a little bit unhappy and I think you could see that I was unhappy.I asked the coach for a reason and he told me that I was tired. Maybe I was a little bit tired. I’ve played a lot of games this season,” said Hazard. “Hazard is not hurt, but I had the impression that he was tired. In these kind of games, you have to react immediately because we did not have time,” said the Belgium manager after the match.