Tag: Eden Hazard

Eden Hazard has just about reached rock bottom at Real Madrid.

It seems like a decade ago now, but it really was just in 2019 when Madrid paid Chelsea €100 million to sign the Belgian — then one of the world’s foremost attacking players.

But Hazard’s time in Madrid has been, to put it nicely, a disaster.

First it was injuries that limited his minutes but at this point, Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti simply isn’t picking Hazard. Like, at all.

The Belgian has made just one La Liga start and two substitute appearances this season, and has seen the field exactly once since the World Cup break.

Once one of the world’s most feared players, Hazard now just wants to play.

“I miss it, I want to play, I want to have fun on the field. Training is good, but what keeps us alive are the matches,” Hazard told Belgian broadcaster RTBF.

“I hope deep inside me that I can bring something and that the coach is still counting on me, I hope. We’ll see if I’m still going to play by the end of the season. I doubt a little. It’s up to me to show him in training that he can call on me.”

Hazard: I don’t talk to Ancelotti

The 32-year-old made another frank admission in his interview: he doesn’t talk to his coach anymore.

“There is respect between us. But I’m not going to say that [Ancelotti and I] talk to each other, because we don’t,” Hazard said. “But there will always be respect. Even if tomorrow he doesn’t pick me anymore.

“I must have respect for a guy like Carlo Ancelotti. In terms of what he represents for football, what he has done in his career. There is no problem.”

In a press conference on Tuesday, Ancelotti did not dispute his player’s characterization of their relationship — or the lack thereof.

“The relationship isn’t cold. Look. We have to assess two things. Hazard has been very honest. We don’t talk much, I don’t speak much with him but speaking is also about character, if you get on better with one person or another,” the Italian said.

“It’s the same with your children, you can speak more with one child than another. That isn’t the most important thing, what’s important to me is that even though he doesn’t play much, he respects me, and I value that a lot, and I respect him in exactly the same way, that’s the most important thing for me.

“He isn’t playing because there’s a lot of competition, he has a player in that position who’s doing a lot right now, which is Vinícius.”

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