Hazard: Aiming high #viaChelseaOffical The Blues head into our penultimate match of the Champions League group campaign in Schalke tonight knowing a victory would see us progress to the knockout stage in top spot, and Eden Hazard is targetting three points from the Veltins-Arena for the second consecutive season. Jose Mourinho’s side have taken four points from the two games on our travels in this season’s competition to date, with a 1-0 win at Sporting Lisbon preceding the 1-1 draw in Maribor last time out. We were drawn alongside Schalke, who are now managed by former Chelsea player and manager Roberto Di Matteo, at the same stage of last season’s competition, running out 3-0 winners in both matches, with Hazard scoring in the away fixture [pictured below]. ‘I remember we played very well,’ the winger recalls. ‘I scored my first goal in the Champions League, which came on the counter attack. ‘Fernando Torres scored two and it was a very strong performance from the whole team. The atmosphere in German stadiums is always very loud and that’s good for us as players because it makes you want to do well.’ The two teams met at Stamford Bridge in September, and took a point each after Cesc Fabregas’s early opener, which was laid on brilliantly by Hazard, was cancelled out in the second half by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. The Belgian, reflecting on that game, believes it was one in which we should have taken all three points. ‘We created a lot of chances in that game but we didn’t take them, and obviously the most important thing in football is to take your chances when you have them,’ he says. ‘That match could have ended 3-0 but it finished 1-1. In the Champions League you know you can’t make too many mistakes and you have to take advantage of being on top.’ Hazard has been outstanding since the season began in August, a constant menace to opposition defenders and at the heart of all of our most productive attacking play. The 23-year-old has six goals to his name, and Jose Mourinho spoke recently about the difference he faces when one-on-one with the goalkeeper due to the fact that, unlike strikers, it’s generally following a long run with men beaten and passing combinations which has got him into that position initially. ‘Sometimes I can score a beautiful goal but then the easier chance, one against one, is more difficult because I’ve produced a lot of movement and then by the time I have to shoot I’m a little tired, which can affect your concentration, but I enjoy creating chances for myself,’ he says. With his focus turning back towards tonight’s game, Hazard stresses the importance of qualifying for the knockout stages as group winners. ‘We want to do what we did last season,’ he says. ‘Last season we did very well away against Schalke and if we can get a similar result it will be good for us because we want to finish top of the group.’
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 18:39:02 +0000
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