Eden Hazard will not feature for Chelsea against BATE Borisov in the Europa League on Thursday and faces a battle to be fit for Sunday’s trip to Burnley in the Premier League, head coach Maurizio Sarri has confirmed.
The Belgian walked off the Stamford Bridge pitch clutching his back and grimacing after Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United.
Sarri was always likely to rest Hazard for the visit of BATE to Stamford Bridge as he rotates his team for the Europa League, but the Italian also said that his superstar’s participation at Turf Moor is in doubt.
“Tomorrow he is out for sure,” Sarri said of Hazard. “He has a back problem. We are trying to solve the problem for Sunday. It’s not very easy.”
There were claims that Hazard had been targeted for rotational fouling by Jose Mourinho’s men at Stamford Bridge — but Sarri just said he felt it was the nature of the Premier League.
“I don’t know,” he replied when asked about these accusations. “I like very much English football also for that, so I don’t know.
“It’s normally the same questions with [Lionel] Messi, with [Cristiano] Ronaldo. I’ve got no problem with Manchester United’s [approach].”
The other narrative to emerge from the United game relates to Sarri’s assistant Marco Ianni, who was charged with improper conduct by the Football Association after sparking a tunnel fracas with Mourinho by celebrating Ross Barkley’s 96th-minute equaliser provocatively in front of the United bench.
Sarri and Ianni both apologised to Mourinho for his actions immediately after the match, and Chelsea’s head coach reiterated that he is confident his assistant will learn from his mistake regardless of how he is sanctioned by the FA.
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