All Eden Hazard needed was fitness. This was the widespread belief in the Belgian’s first two seasons at Real Madrid when a series of persistent injuries prevented him from fulfilling his ‘Galactico’ destiny. Hazard was signed for € 100 million as heir to Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer of 2019 and barely made it onto the pitch.
Now the 30-year-old is fit again after a full season preparation. Hazard is leaner than it has been in a few years and has managed to stay out of the physiotherapist’s room this season. Even so, the Belgian is still on the Real Madrid bench.
Carlo Ancelotti has resurrected Real Madrid’s attack since taking over Zinedine Zidane in the summer, but it is Marco Asensio, Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior who pushed Los Blancos to the top of La Liga, not Hazard. In fact, Hazard has only played a minor role for the Spanish giant this season.
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Above all, the shape of Benzema and Vinicius leaves Ancelotti with no other choice. With eight goals and seven assists in just seven LaLiga games, Benzema is currently in the shape of his life, which says something considering the key role he has played for Real Madrid over the past three seasons since Ronaldo left.
Vinicius, previously criticized for his lack of end product, has got his game on point this season. Ancelotti has apparently instructed the Brazilian to get the ball out of his feet faster. He takes less contact with the ball and this has added another dimension to his game as he scored five goals in his first seven league games.
Asensio, whose career has stagnated, has also stepped up his level of performance, scoring a hat-trick in the emphatic 6-1 win over Real Mallorca last week, while Rodrygo even made a contribution to a decisive win against Inter in Real Madrid’s Champions League opener in San Siro.
In addition, Eduardo Camavinga had an immediate impact after arriving at the Santiago Bernabeu on Deadline Day. The French teenager has rejuvenated Real Madrid’s aging midfield core and given his new team a stronger platform in the opposing half by pushing them 10 meters up.
All of these factors have helped push Hazard out of the picture, despite the Belgian’s good start to the season. The 30-year-old assisted Real Madrid’s season opener against Alaves and didn’t play badly on the pitch, but Ancelotti simply has more productive alternatives right now.
Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale celebrates his team’s first goal with Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema and Eden Hazard during the La Liga Santader game between Levante UD and Real Madrid CF at the Ciutat de Valencia stadium on August 22, 2021 in Valencia
Photo credit: Getty Images
Concerns remain about Hazard’s fitness, and particularly his ability to play back-to-back games. “He has improved his condition but we have to be careful with him,” Ancelotti recently admitted. “He has had injuries in the past and it can be difficult to give him two games in a row. He’s still not at the level we’d like, but we are confident that he will return to his best shape. “
Ancelotti was hired to get more out of the current Real Madrid squad and has embarked on a project with Hazard. At his best, the Belgian is one of the strongest broad attackers in the game. If Ancelotti can restore Hazard’s glamor, Real Madrid will be a better side.
However, they are a better team at the moment as Hazard starts on the bench where he can make an impact as a substitute. Fitness is no longer the former Chelsea player’s biggest problem. Instead, Hazard will have to prove that he is a better option for Real Madrid than his team-mates.
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