Ranking Chelsea’s 10 most important title-winning stars, from Gary Cahill to Eden Hazard

3) Nemanja Matic

The defensive screen in front of the Chelsea defence, and one of the key reasons the likes of Terry and Cahill have struck up such a successful partnership this season is because Matic lets so little get past to run at them.

So much so that when the Blues had to play the League Cup final without the Serbia because of a ban, Jose Mourinho employed four central defenders on the field to replicate his skills, Matic’s impact was that sorely missed.