Hazard Injury Update: Playmaker A Doubt For Vital Fixtures

Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard is facing a race against time to be fit in time to play in the semi-finals of the Champions League after picking up a calf injury last night, according to ESPN.

The Belgian winger was forced off in just the 18th minute of Tuesday nights 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain and therefore played no significant part as the Blues scored a late goal to level the tie at 3-3 on aggregate and progress to the last four on away goals.

After the game, Hazard revealed that he had felt some pain in his calf during the warm-up and didn’t want to risk aggravating the problem any further so decided to withdraw himself from the game.

“I had already felt some pain in my calf during the warming-up. I didn’t want to take a risk.” Hazard is quoted as saying by ESPN

However, although Jose Mourinho admitted he doesn’t know the full extent of the problem yet, he said that even calf injuries that aren’t serious will mean at least two weeks on the sidelines.

“It is some problem with this calf. It’s a muscular problem and, even when they are not serious, you cannot normally play for a couple of weeks, minimum, but I have no idea the dimension of his injury.” Mourinho is quoted as saying by ESPN

The 23-year-old is expected to have further tests on the injury today but it seems even the best case scenario will see Hazard miss the upcoming Premier League fixtures against Swansea and Sunderland and make him a doubt to play in the first leg of the Champions League semi final.

A two week absence should see him return in time to face Liverpool on April 27th in what could be a title decider, and he should also be fit for the subsequent second leg in Europe, but if the injury is worse than first feared then he could miss the majority of Chelsea’s run in.

It will come as a blow to lose Hazard during a pivotal point of the season as the Belgian international has been Chelsea’s stand-out player this campaign, scoring 17 goals in 46 appearances to keep the west Londoners in the hunt for the Premier League trophy as well as reach the last four in Europe.