The manager of Real Madrid Zinedine Zidane says Eden Hazard is fine despite the injury scare which made him be substituted in the 61 minutes in Madrid’s La Liga game against Eibar on Sunday.
Eibar visited Real Madrid in their temporal home venue, Alfredo Di Stefano stadium, behind closed doors for their first La Liga match in three months. The match was a must-win for the second-placed Madrid because their rival and first placed Barcelona won their first match to extend their lead on the league table.
Zinedine Zidane‘s boys started the match like a house on fire as Toni Kroos opened the scoring in the fourth minute. Sergio Ramos doubled their lead in the 30th minute through an assist from Eden Hazard. At the 37th minute, Marcelo made it three to make it more difficult for the visitors.
The second half saw a less convincing Real Madrid side as they failed to maintain the momentum they started the game with. Eibar came back stronger but only managed to score a consolation goal in the 60th minute through the boot of Pedro Bigas. A minute later, Eden Hazard was substituted.
Minutes after the substitution, the camera picked him with an ice pack around his troublesome right ankle, which he injured in November 2019 and February 2020, before undergoing surgery in the United States in March 2020. From that point, the news went viral that Eden Hazard had sustained an injury again.
The last time Hazard played in a competitive match was in February against Levante but ended the match with his famous ankle injury. Madrid was shocked with a 1-2 defeat by the club to give Barcelona an edge in the title race.
Zinedine Zidane admitted that Hazard got a knock on Sunday but it was nothing to worry about. He said he was impressed with his performance on the night.
“We knew Hazard would probably lack a little sharpness if he played the whole game,” Zidane said. “He played for an hour, and played well, and he took a hit, which will do him good.
“He’s had a knock, a scare, but that’s football. He was fine at half-time, he was happy and he’s not afraid. He is happy with what he’s done and we’re happy with his work and that of the whole team.
“We have players up top who can always make the difference. I think when Hazard laid it to Sergio, he could have scored himself too, but he’s altruistic, so he gave it to Sergio. It’s unselfish and I love to see things like that.”
With their win on Sunday, Real Madrid are now 2 points behind Barcelona. A little slip from the league leaders will see Madrid at the top of the League table.
