Chelsea star may have to change position for Europa League semi-final after fresh injury blow

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Chelsea are facing a mini-crisis in defence that could reportedly lead to Cesar Azpilicueta having to play centre-back in the Europa League semi-final this week.

The Blues are away to Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday night and look in real need of a good result as they’re not guaranteed Champions League qualification through the top four after recent domestic results.

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However, Maurizio Sarri has spoken ahead of the game and confirmed bad news regarding Antonio Rudiger and Gary Cahill, whilst adding that Azpilicueta has been training in central defence in the build-up to the game.

The Spaniard has played there before, but usually in a back three, and has spent the bulk of his Stamford Bridge career as either a right-back or a left-back.

This is far from ideal for CFC, but they’ll hope the solid and reliable Azpilicueta can make it work against Eintracht Frankfurt, though the Bundesliga side have the lethal young Serbian striker Luka Jovic in their ranks, so it’s not the best time to be fielding a makeshift defence.

‘Cahill is out… it’s a problem with the Achilles tendon. He is out for the moment. I hope to have him back in one week,’ Sarri is quoted by the Metro.

‘But he is out so we are in trouble with the centre-backs. In training we played with Azpilicueta at centre-back, in case as he is the only one who can play there.

‘It is normal it can happen. We have had a lot of games and been unlucky with injuries. Worried? A little.’

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