Maurizio
Sarri said Olivier Giroud remains a "very important" player for Chelsea
after his hat-trick against Dynamo Kiev.
Giroud's triple took him top of the overall goalscoring charts for this
year's competition, as Chelsea raced into the quarter-finals with a 5-0 win
in Ukraine and an 8-0 aggregate scoreline.
The striker has found himself on the fringes of the Blues' first team in the
Premier League since the arrival of Gonzalo Higuain on loan in January, but
Sarri told reporters after the game he remains an important figure in his
plans.
He said: "In the last period, every time he has been on the pitch, he was
able to play really very well. He has scored nine goals in this competition.
"Olivier is, for us, a very important player. I am really very happy for him
and for the hat-trick, and I am really very happy with him."
Sarri was equally delighted with the performance of his side, who did not
let their 3-0 lead coming into the match deter them from equalling their
biggest European away win since the 1970s, scoring five on the night in
Ukraine without reply.
He said: "We started very well, I think, and we wanted to start in this way
because it was really very important to score after the result at Stamford
Bridge.
"We were able to score after five minutes. So, for the opponents, it was
really a very difficult situation. I think that we played a very, very good
first half. In the second half, we managed the result. But I think [it was]
a wonderful performance for 90 minutes."
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