Cesar Azpilicueta is enjoying his 19th year in first-team football this season (Picture: Getty)
Former Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta has picked out Eden Hazard, Didier Drogba and Diego Costa as the ‘toughest’ opponents he has ever had the misfortune of facing.
Across an illustrious 19-year career in senior football thus far, Azpilicueta has played both against and alongside a whole host of the finest players of his generation.
The 35-year-old is perhaps best remembered for his 11-year spell at Stamford Bridge, where he won nine pieces of silverware in total, including two Premier League titles and the 2020/21 Champions League.
Prior to even joining Chelsea in 2012, Azpilicueta had lifted three trophies with Marseille – and the veteran Spaniard will be determined to add to his impressive CV before he eventually hangs up his boots.
Azpilicueta’s Atleti take on top-of-the-table Real Madrid this weekend in what could prove a decisive match in the race for the La Liga title this season, with just one point separating the two sides.
Should he be selected, Azpilicueta will be tasked with keeping the likes of Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe quiet at the Bernabeu, two players widely regarded to be among the top talents on the planet.
But speaking to ESPN ahead of the eagerly anticipated clash, the veteran defender claimed Hazard, Drogba and Costa stood out above the rest as the trickiest he had ever come up against.
Azpilicueta came up against Hazard in France before they joined forces at Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
Drogba locked horns with the Spaniard during his spell with Galatasaray (Picture: Getty)
‘Wow. Well, one that comes out quickly is Eden Hazard,’ Azpilicueta said.
‘He was my team-mate for a long time but then I was at Marseille when he played for Lille. I remember half-time against him…
‘Didier Drogba was one. He was playing for Galatasaray, I was at Chelsea, and he was quite a tough striker.’
Azpilicueta and Costa have been both team-mates and opponents (Picture: Getty)
After briefly mulling it over, Azpilicueta added: ‘Diego Costa I would say for the third one.
‘Three players that I played both with and against.
‘I knew how they were as a team-mate and also as an opponent and they were great battles.’
Azpilicueta has made 11 appearances in all competitions for Atletico Madrid this season, including six starts in the Spanish top flight.
The defender is out of contract at the end of the 2024/25 campaign having signed a one-year extension in the Spanish capital last summer.
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