Can a footballer in an obvious state of physical neglect play in the First Division? Judging by the extra kilos that she wore Eden Hazard this Sunday in the game against Valladolid, the answer is yes. Palm Sunday brought several news at Real Madrid. And one of them was Hazard’s surprising return to the field.
The Belgian stepped on the pitch again, something he had not done in the white shirt since January 3 in Cáceres, in the Cup. To see him in the League, you have to leave until September 11, 2022, when he took the field for the last time to face Mallorca on matchday 5. The Belgian striker replaced Karim Benzema, who scored three goals and unjammed his rifle, scoring the hat-trick in seven minutes, one of the most splendid goalscoring moments on record. In seven minutes the Frenchman scored almost the same goals that Hazard has scored in the league since he arrived at Madrid four seasons ago.
The novelty is that given the solvency of Madrid’s victory against Valladolid at halftime, Carlo Ancelotti, who does not speak to Hazard, as the player confessed, made use of players who do not play regularly: Hazard, Vallejo and Odriozola. In the 64th minute, the Belgian jumped onto the field amid a loud whistle from the Bernabéu that does not forgive him for his physical abandonment in these seasons as Madrid players. He set foot on the pitch 203 days later, six months, and 20 days later he felt like a Real Madrid player again.
Ancelotti cape with message
Asked about the whistles, Ancelotti, always elegant, gave his footballer a cloak, although in the end he left a message for the Belgian. “I have heard it, yes. Eden has trained well this break. He has played very little, but he has done well and has given an assist. Training well, he can have opportunities.”. A message that reveals, in reality, that Hazard does not have more opportunities because he does not train well. And that is something that is a popular voice in the dressing room and in the club. He was not the only one in the dressing room who wanted to give the Belgian some love. Alaba warned that “Eden is important to us,” while Lucas Vazquez, who scored the sixth thanks to an assist from the Belgian, wanted to thank him: “Great help from you. I am very happy for him!”.
Eden, who had not given an assist in La Liga since August 14, 2021, He has one more year of contract with Real Madrid, until June 2024 and has already been warned that his intention is to stay in the club and fulfill his contract. Something that is explained by looking his emoluments, which will be in his last season of 23,162,880 gross euros. 23 million that make Real Madrid unable to place him in any team. In fact, as much as the white club has tried to place him in another team, no one has accepted the offer of José Ángel Sánchez and Florentino Pérez.
Surprised the dressing room and the staff
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Hazard arrived at the World Cup with renewed expectations of earning Ancelotti’s trust and enjoy more minutes in Madrid. This is how his environment transmitted it and the player expressed it inside the locker room. But the reality is that the Belgian has maintained his physical indolence in training, something that has come to surprise the Real Madrid coaching staff, that he expected a greater effort from the Belgian, judging by the footballer’s speech upon his return from Qatar. And you only have to see the physical state with which he stepped onto the pitch against Valladolid to understand why Ancelotti is not giving him more minutes. The talent is not discussed, but the physical abandonment is undeniable.
His appearance and his assistance have not fallen on deaf ears and there has even been a footballer who has asked his club to sign him. The player in question is Loïs Openda, a Belgian striker who has already been international with Domenico Tedesco’s team, and one of the revelations of Ligue 1 with fifteen goals scored for Lens. Openda warned the following: “Eden Hazard is a player that I like and that I marveled at in the Belgian team. I don’t care about his past at Lille, I think he would be an excellent signing for Lens.” Nothing would like more in the noble zone of the Bernabéu. But given his physical abandonment, there are no expectations in the club that this will happen. The first one who doesn’t have them is him.