Eden Hazard is the best player Man City defender has ever faced
Real Madrid star forward Eden Hazard is currently out with an ankle injury, but he’ll be back by the time Los Blancos face Manchester City in the Champions League Round of 16 in February.
It took Eden Hazard some time to hit the ground running at Real Madrid, but once he found chemistry with the likes of Karim Benzema and Ferland Mendy, there was no turning back. Only an injury sustained at the hands of countryman Thomas Meunier in the Champions League match against PSG could slow down Hazard, who will miss Wednesday’s Clasico and likely the rest of 2019 with the injury.
But Hazard will be back with a vengeance in 2020. He was on unstoppable form with the ball at his feet, directing counterattacks and embarrassing defenders. Hazard was one of the world’s best at Chelsea, lighting up the Premier League for years.
Real Madrid will face Manchester City in the first round of the 2019-2020 Champions League knockout stages in February, and City’s defenders are certainly familiar with Hazard’s game-changing ability.
In fact, left back Benjamin Mendy told OTRO, via the Manchester Evening News’s Daniel Murphy, that Eden Hazard is the best player the young defender has ever faced to this point in his career:
"“Eden Hazard, the best player I have ever seen. The skill, everything. The pace, the shots, the strength and he’s a very good guy.”"
Hazard is one of the best dribblers in the world and provided a bevy of goals and assists for Chelsea. While the goals and assists have been drier at Real, the overall production and quality has not.
Pep Guardiola will have to make stopping Hazard a key part of his gameplan in February and March when his Manchester City squad faces Real Madrid in the Round of 16.
Next. Real Madrid Predicted XI against Barcelona. dark
According to WhoScored.com, Hazard is averaging 4.4 dribbles per game and 3.8 fouls drawn per game in La Liga, making him one of the most dangerous players on the ball. As Mendy said, Hazard’s skills are ridiculous, and his strength and acceleration make him absolutely deadly; he is nearly impossible to take the ball off of.
And off the pitch, he’s an awesome guy to have in the squad. Hazard has been a great Galactico for Real thus far, and fans continue to wish him the best in his recovery from this injury.