Baku clash: Luiz ‘sad’ for Chelsea trio

David Luiz admits the Chelsea players have added motivation to win the Europa League for the club’s injured stars Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Antonio Rudiger.

Chelsea play London rivals Arsenal in Baku next week without the trio, who played a key role in the Blues reaching the final but all suffered injuries in recent weeks.

Rudiger is missing following surgery to his left knee while Chelsea academy graduates Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odoi both sustained Achilles tendon injuries in the last month.

Loftus-Cheek suffered his injury during Chelsea’s charity friendly against New England Revolution in Boston last week after revealing how much he was looking forward to playing in the Europa League final, because it is a competition he played most of his games this season in.

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And Luiz admitted he felt “sad” particularly for 23-year-old Loftus-Cheek (out for four to six months) and 18-year-old Hudson-Odoi (expected to be out for a similar timeframe) because the injuries they sustained came at the worst possible time in their careers.

Speaking to Standard Sport at Cobham, Luiz said: “I’m so sad for Callum and Ruben because they are in the best moments of their careers and they have injuries.

“I’m sad also for ‘Toni Rudiger because he’s injured and I know how much he wants to play a final, but it’s a different moment of his career than the other two so I just wish for the three of them to be good soon – we need them.

“I am comfortable and happy with my team because my team has qualities enough to be there and try and win the final.”

There has been much discourse in the last few days about UEFA’s decision to hold the Europa League final in Baku given the complexities and cost for fans travelling to the city, and also following the news that Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan has chosen not to go to Azerbaijan due to safety concerns.

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But Luiz, who visited the city when Chelsea played Qarabag in the Champions League group stages last season, said: “I had the opportunity to be there in Azerbaijan, it’s a nice country, [it was] nice to be there playing against Qarabag and we have to respect the decisions.

“I am just here to be a player, not here to be here for something else. We will try to do our best and we have been fighting to be there since the start of the competition I wish to be in Baku so I want to be there now!”