“That Eden wanted to come here (Belarus), that he wanted to travel so far, knowing that he could not play the 90 minutes, it shows that Eden is back, on all levels! He is mentally prepared. He is happy and has no pain. Enjoy again ”. This is how euphoric Belgium coach Roberto Martínez was after his team’s third game in the last break due to the FIFA Virus. In it, Hazard had entered from the bench in the second half. But in the first two games, against Estonia and the Czech Republic, he had been a starter and fundamental in the system, with a goal and an assist … the usual Hazard.
Before that, the Belgian star’s start to the campaign at Madrid had been truly hopeful, with three starts in the first four league games. “For a while it has been difficult for me to chain matches”, Eden himself reflected a few days ago in the prestigious Belgian newspaper HLN. “Now I hope it goes well. And I know that if I manage to chain matches I will be fine. that the body accompanies me ”. But after that stoppage of selections that invited optimism, Hazard, signed for 100 million plus 40 in variables three seasons ago, again suffered a sudden stop. Not a single minute into Madrid’s Champions League debut in Milan.
Well-informed sources close to the player assure that, to this day, Hazard is physically well. He does not feel pain in his knee, but his concern about the sequence of muscle injuries has spread to Madrid himself and with minimal muscle fatigue the conservative option of not taking risks is preferred. Hazard himself, these sources of all solvency assure, feels that he still needs more time to reach the state of form that he had at Chelsea after almost two years away from the dynamics of the team.
Hazard has many options to start against Valencia. Bale’s injury has opened a door for Ancelotti to try to finally recover the Belgian despite the explosion of Vinicius. As it happened against Celta, both can share ownership with Benzema. But even that poses a new problem for Hazard, whose preferred position is the left and where, it is already an evidence for what he did against Levante and Inter, Vinicius is unstoppable. The Brazilian has earned playing there.
“I preferred to put Rodrygo in to widen the field, we needed to go outside and Hazard is a footballer who tends to go more inside, through the center”, Ancelotti admitted after the San Siro game to justify that he had preferred to put Rodrygo on the field over the Belgian star, who had been warming up to great intensity on the band for 40 minutes. To this day, Vinicius is no longer a problem for Hazard. It is already ahead of him. The former Chelsea player is competing for the title with Bale (now injured), Rodrygo, Asensio and even Lucas Vázquez.
“I signed for Madrid for five years and the first two have not been good, partly due to injuries. But I have three left to show how I am and I hope that happens. They paid a lot of money for me and I want to give them something “, Hazard sincerely admitted in an intimate interview also published by HLN. “My idea is to get to training and be fine, but if I feel pain, then I will have to continue playing with pain, “he admitted.” For people at home I am the one who is always injured, that is the photograph they have of me now. But look, no one has played more in the last ten years of my career than me. “
Madrid signed Hazard in the summer of 2019 in a masterful maneuver in which the club was patient until the Belgian only had one year left on his contract at Chelsea. Something similar to what he tried with Mbappé. It was the first stone of this galactic renewal in which Madrid is immersed, or at least a link that should unite the generation of Cristiano, Modric and Benzema, who has won so much, with that of Mbappé and Haaland that is to come. . Then, the Belgian was a star worldwide, in the top five along with Cristiano, Messi, Neymar and Mbappé. But, to date, he has only been able to play 47 games with the Madrid shirt, 34 as a starter … and what is worse, only four of them complete.
That entry by Meunier that Forcing him to reinstall the plate that had been implanted in his ankle years ago ruined the illusions not only of the player, but of an entire Real Madrid. Still, Hazard doesn’t give up. Five goals and seven assists in just over two seasons are not enough for him. You just need a little more time …