The
30-year-old has been included in the Real Madrid squad for tonight’s Champions
League semi-final second leg clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
MADRID, SPAIN – APRIL 27:
Eden Hazard of Real Madrid looks on from the bench during the UEFA Champions
League Semi-Final First Leg match between Real Madrid and Chelsea at Estadio
Alfredo Di Stefano on April 27, 2021 in Madrid, Spain.
Eden
Hazard has come back to Stamford Bridge.
For
the first time since leaving Chelsea for Real Madrid in the summer of
2019, the Belgium international has trained on the pitch he used to call home
ahead of the Champions League semi-final second leg tie.
In truth, Hazard
has endured a tough time with the La Liga giants, with persistent injuries
preventing him from showing his best form on a consistent basis.
But his injury nightmare appears to finally
be over after successfully coming through three Real Madrid games in a row
unscathed either as a starter or a substitute.
Hazard made his
first appearance since mid-March with a 15-minute cameo in a goalless draw at
home to Real Betis last month and followed that up with 24 minutes in last
week’s first-leg.
His first start
since the end of January came at the weekend as Los Blancos beat Osasuna 2-0 in
La Liga and got 72 minutes in the tank before being replaced by Isco.
That was enough
to earn him a place in Zinedine Zidane’s squad for the big game in west London
and the 30-year-old is raring to go.
As seen in
the Instagram posts below, following Madrid’s training session at
Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening, Hazard was active on social media.
And it was to
hype up the game against his former club with a 10-word message to Real Madrid
and Chelsea fans.
“Aiming for the
big night, see you tomorrow my friends,” he wrote.
It remains to
be seen if Hazard is included from the start as Madrid know they must score at
least one goal to have any chance of meeting Manchester City in the Champions
League final.
But Zidane is
expecting a big performance from the ex-Chelsea star.
“It is a great
time for it, a great time for him and I think he is prepared,” Zidane said.
“That is very good for us.
“We are going
to need Eden, we know what a good player he is and he is definitely going to be
helping the team.
“Eden is here,
he is ready and prepared. Tomorrow he will bring his game and show what he
wants out of it.”
No comments