The stats that show just how important Azpilicueta is to Chelsea

Cesar Azpilicueta has become a key player for Maurizio Sarri’s squad. Azpilicueta's importance to Chelsea can be seen from CIES Football Observatory's study of players in Europe's big five leagues to have played the most minutes since 2014. The defender actually comes out first for the top-25 outfield players having played a total of 16,099 minutes (182 games) over the past five years. Kamil Gilk is in second following his time with Torino and Monaco, although his 15,754 minutes (176 games) are some way behind the Spaniard. Former Chelsea player Nemanja Matic came 20th in the study with a total of 14,491 minutes (177 games), with N'Golo Kante in 24th after playing 14,397 minutes (166 games).

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