Eden Hazard sent signs of hope for Real Madrid from Vitoria. Not that he left a stellar performance, but he did offer a bunch of messages to think that the Belgian can, at last, is the player that Zidane has been announcing since the presentation of the Belgium captain. Among what he contributed in Mendizorroza stands out a goal, his fourth with Madrid in 34 games and preceded by his own control of the quality of what was one of the best players in the world not too long ago.
Now, Hazard, with that wind in his favor, faces the game against Levante with the extra confidence he needed. And he does so with the possibility of scoring for the first time in two straight games with Madrid. So far, his best frequency is between his goals-against Huesca (October 31) and Inter (November 25)
Seeing the door against the Granota team, Hazard will recover a feeling that has not lived for a long time, specifically since April 2019. Shortly before winning the Europa League with Chelsea in Baku and saying goodbye to London to settle in Madrid, Eden signed those who They were to be his last three goals of the 85 he achieved in 245 Premier League games: April 3, 2019, at Brighton and five days later a double at West Ham. At Chelsea, he said goodbye with a double in the final of the Europa League.
From then, when Chelsea played what Eden wanted and commanded, his brightest streak dates back to September 2018. He has chaired five goals in three games: a triplet against Cardiff and two goals against Liverpool in two consecutive appointments, one of the Cariboo and another in the Premier.
Also, in the middle, there was a stoppage due to selection matches and he scored in the two appointments that Belgium had ( Cyprus and Bosnia ) to close a cycle of five consecutive games seeing the door. Now all that is far away because Hazard has not yet gotten the least bit close to the footballer who with the Chelsea shirt surrendered rivals in his wake, the one who scored and gave away goals. But Zidane is sure that this player has not evaporated, convinced that Real Madrid will have Hazard from London.
Against Alaves he gave some clue, now he has to show that it was not a peck and nothing more. The measuring stick will not be the goals but his game, but it is clear that if the Belgian’s goals come more frequently it will be a sign that he can be counted on. The well, in the form of injuries, in which Hazard has fallen since his arrival in Madrid has another negative aspect for his selection. Roberto Martínez has not been able to count on the star who guided his country to the semifinals of the World Cup in Russia in the last eight games.
Hazard has not played for Belgium since November 19: 6-1 against Cyprus. Three days before he scored, against Russia, his last two goals with the Red Devils. He was living his best moment as a Madridista, the one that a week later would be cut off by Meunier’s kick.
Like Madrid, the Belgian team waits like May water for its captain. The postponement of the Euro was, within the bad, good news for the devils. Now it is clear that even if Hazard had arrived, he would not have looked anything like the player of 2018.
I saw a happy player, a happy Eden who enjoyed soccer and who made a difference, said Roberto Martinez when Hazard threatened to be back at the end of last November. Then he was injured again. Through that state, that of happiness, it seems that many of the options of the reunion of this Hazard with the one who amazed the world pass. Today, another test.
