Yesterday brought what might actually be the greatest El Clasico of all time. It ended with Lionel Messi scoring his 500th career goal in the final minute to give Barcelona a 3-2 win over Real Madrid. On Saturday, Eden Hazard came off the bench in the 61′ to propel the Blues past London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup semi-finals.
After the match, Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte said that the plan all along was to have Eden Hazard come off the bench.
More on that here. Hazard’s Chelsea teammate Cesc Fabregas said over the weekend that only Messi is better than the 2014-15 PFA Player of the Year “ability wise.” Fabregas then added his view that Eden Hazard could reach Messi’s level if he were only to have more “killer instinct.”
“Sometimes when we have a counter-attack and it’s two against two and he passes the ball, I tell him, ‘You have the capability to score by yourself. Do it,” Fabregas said.
“He has to do it more often. I’ve told him many, many times, he needs to be selfish sometimes and have that killer instinct to score more goals. I hope — and I’m sure — he will improve in the future. And then he will be unstoppable.”
“No, no, no, absolutely not,” the Italian said.
“I don’t think that a player like Messi is a selfish player. The first target for every great champion is to play for the team and to put your talent into the team. If you do this, the team [increases] your talent.
“The best players in the world don’t exist without a team. For me, it’s sad to listen to this, that a player must ‘be more selfish’ to reach the top level. That’s very sad. It’s not my idea of football and I will never understand this. Never, never. In my team, I don’t want selfish players.”
“I prefer to lose a game than to have a selfish player. For me, I don’t want this and I can’t accept this. I don’t want my club to buy me a selfish player one day. Never. No.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times and NBC Chicago.com, contributes to Chicago Tribune.com, Bold, WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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