Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta has declared Eden Hazard as his toughest opponent.

The Belgian wizard was at his mesmerising best when in action for the Blues, scoring 110 goals and providing 92 assists before leaving for Real Madrid in 2019.

Azpilicueta enthused to 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."