Real Madrid: Eden Hazard is nearing his return to the first team
By Ben Sundock
After what seems like a full year, Eden Hazard is back to participating in Real Madrid‘s training sessions. The Belgian forward did work on the grass on Thursday, giving fans hope that he will be back in a week or two.
It hasn’t been a full year, but boy does it feel like it. Manager Zinedine Zidane has been experimenting with his squad ever since the biggest signing of the summer, Hazard, went down with a serious ankle injury against Paris Saint-Germain in late November.
What has made the wait to see the number seven back in the starting lineup so tough are the circumstances regarding his injury.
At first diagnosed with simply a bone bruise on his ankle, Madridistas collectively breathed a sigh of a relief and expected Eden to miss two or three matches at the most.
Wow were we wrong and wow was the Sanitas medical staff working with the club wrong in diagnosing the problem.
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Instead of just a bruise, it was later discovered that Hazard had a hairline fracture to that ankle that was stepped on against PSG and he has not seen a second of game time since that injury was suffered.
But, trying not to get bogged down by the huge mistake that occurred, it is refreshing to see Eden Hazard back with his Real Madrid teammates working with the ball at his feet. In the limited time the media was allowed to view Thursday’s recovery session after the Copa del Rey win on Wednesday night, Hazard looked happy to be on the pitch and as usual, looked comfortable dribbling and passing.
Captain Sergio Ramos was also spotted out on the Valadebebas training fields working with and without the ball as he tries to overcome a slight knock he picked up during the Supercopa nearly two weeks ago.
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I’m not going to pretend to be a doctor and give my diagnosis for when exactly the prolific striker will again be match ready but I can’t imagine it is too much longer. I would say he should be back ahead of the Champions League matchup with Manchester City in late February for sure, but you know Zidane will want to get him some match experience before facing the Premier League giants.
Marco Asensio is nearing his return from that horrific knee injury suffered in the preseason and is slowly but surely playing with the ball and running more in training.