Pat Nevin suggests Cesar Azpilicueta should be back in the Chelsea line-up tonight against Real Madrid.
Cesar Azpilicueta, 33, hasn’t actually played a game since he suffered a head injury mid-February.
The experienced defender has been sat on the bench in recent games, but it looks like he’s fallen quite down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea host Madrid on Tuesday night in the second leg of a Champions League quarter-final. Unfortunately, they trail 2-0 on aggregate from last week’s first leg.
If Frank Lampard opts to go with a back-three later, it’ll be interesting to see what personnel selects. Incidentally, full-back/wing-back Ben Chilwell is unavailable in Europe through suspension.
Nevin thinks Cesar Azpilicueta could be a wildcard to come into the Chelsea starting XI.
He suggests the £150,000-a-week (Salary Sport) defender could easily slot into a centre-back position, which could allow Marc Cucurella to play as the left wing-back.
“If we are using wing-backs and a back-three, which we all know gets the best from Reece James, then maybe that gives the chance to move Marc Cucurella forward to his more suited left wing-back position. But do you go radical and bring back the experience of Cesar Azpilicueta? Actually, that isn’t too radical since he has played most positions brilliantly for years, be it right or left wing-back, or wide centre-back or full-back either side. Being Spanish and being Azpi, I think he might just be up for this one!” Nevin wrote for the club’s official website.
We think it’s unlikely we’ll see Azpilicueta on the pitch against Madrid.
It would surely be too steep a task to throw him into the side later on without any match sharpness.
Trevoh Chalobah has been included in The Chelsea Chronicle’s predicted line-up to play Madrid, which seems like the most logical step Lampard will take.