Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta has named Real Madrid star Eden Hazard as the toughest opponent he has ever come up against.

Hazard was Azpilicueta’s teammate at Chelsea for seven years, and the Belgian superstar was seen as one of the best players in the Premier League at the time.

Hazard scorer 110 goals and providing 92 assists during his time at Chelsea, before leaving for Real Madrid in 2019.

For Azpilicueta, facing Hazard in train was a hard job, and made him prepared to face any other player.

Azpilicueta told The Athletic: “The hardest opponent I have faced was Eden Hazard.

“Obviously there were many in other teams, but I will always say training every day with Eden was something that gave me a good taste of the Premier League.

“To face the best player in the Premier League, always one against one — I could take that experience into the games.

“I was ready to face anyone after facing Eden every day.”

The Spain international admitted Real Madrid attacker Hazard was so good it left him wanting to “kick him”, but even then the Belgian wouldn’t go down.

Azpilicueta continued: “The way he turned… he could get the ball and turn so quickly.

“He could shoot with his right and left foot. He was strong, too. Even if you wanted to kick him sometimes, you couldn’t put him down. It was quite impressive!

“There were occasions I would get the better of him but, to be fair, sometimes he was a bit lazy in training. But when he wanted to be on it, he was very hard to stop.”