Real Madrid confident over Champions League chances as Eden Hazard says he’ll play to beat Chelsea ‘friends’

The former Blues winger made an appearance off the bench and will hope to play a bigger role in the second leg

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Real Madrid attacker Eden Hazard says his side will look to be on the front foot for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against his former club Chelsea.

The two sides played out a 1-1 draw in torrential rain in the first leg, with Christian Pulisic’s early goal cancelled out by a Karim Benzema volley.

Chelsea were perhaps the more impressive side overall and certainly created more openings, but their away goal and the draw means Real must go out to attack back at Stamford Bridge.

Hazard, who entered the fray on 65 minutes to little noticeable impact, acknowledged that he still had strong personal ties to the London club - but his desire to pursue success would obviously be the only factor at hand when the second leg comes around.

“We have to go there to try to win the game,” he told BT Sport after the match.

“It’s always good to play against friends - I have a couple over there - but now I’m a Real Madrid player, I just want to win.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s against Chelsea or another team.”

On his fitness, the Belgian continued: “I think I just want to go step by step. Of course I want to play but the last game I played 15 minutes, today a bit more.

“I just want to be ready for games at end of the season. I feel better, just happy I can play again.”

Brazilian left-back Marcelo remains optimistic about his team’s chances of reaching the final, despite acknowledging Real were below their best on the night.

“We knew that could happen but there’s another game to come, we’re still feeling good and we know what we have to do, the return leg will be different.

“We didn’t dictate the pace of the game and had to adapt but we’re feeling calm.”

Additional reporting by PA