Real Madrid: Should Eden Hazard or Vinicius Junior start at Manchester City?

Real Madrid will have some difficult decisions to make with their starting lineup at Manchester City on Friday.

It will all be on the line on Friday night at the Etihad Stadium when Real Madrid face Manchester City in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16. Real head into the match with a 2-1 deficit in the tie, so if they are to advance, they will need to, at a minimum, score two goals. And that’s if they can hold Manchester City’s vaunted attack to a clean sheet.

Real Madrid had the best defense in Europe’s top five leagues with 25 goals allowed in a 38-game season, including two goals surrendered in the final game of the season with the title already won. So the defense, even without captain Sergio Ramos, is the least of their worries.

What Los Blancos must do is score goals, and Zinedine Zidane has the unenviable task of choosing an optimal starting XI amongst a talented group of players.

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The biggest questions will be at wide forward. Eden Hazard is healthy. Marco Asensio is healthy and scored three goals in La Liga’s return, including one with his first touch since coming back from a torn ACL. Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes are young players who have shown they can play in the biggest games. Gareth Bale’s experience always makes him a possible candidate in big matches.

Karim Benzema is the only guarantee. He was the MVP of the 2019-2020 season amongst all La Liga players and can be the difference in any game. Sevilla, Atletico Madrid, Valencia, and Espanyol were among a few games in which Benzema’s goal-scoring proved to be the difference.

Asensio should be locked in as a left-footed right winger with scoring upside, and he may prove to be instrumental in a Real Madrid victory.

So the biggest question will honestly be on the left wing. Who starts between Eden Hazard and Vinicius Junior?

Vini started in the first leg against City and was quite good, leading attack after attack and working hard defensively to support Ferland Mendy. Whether it’s the most recent Derbi or Clasico, Vinicius has made an impact in some of Real’s biggest games in 2020. He’s definitely a starting-caliber player who can shine in the Champions League.

But it’s hard to justify benching Hazard. He’s the definition of world-class, and when Real Madrid have looked their most dangerous in the attack, such as in late October and November, it was with a healthy and in-form Hazard connecting with Benzema.

Hazard is impossible to take the ball off of. He has great vision. He can score goals and provide assists. His creativity and attacking work rate are at least on par with Vinicius’.

Optimally, Zinedine Zidane would find a way to start both, but that’s easier said than done since both players are ideally left-sided forwards. Hazard could possibly play on the right, but would Hazard on the right be a better option than Asensio on the right, who can provide more pure goal-scoring threat than either Hazard or Vinicius? I’m not so sure.

If it comes down to it and it’s one or the other with Asensio on the opposite side, I think Zidane will go with the experienced, former Premier League star against Manchester City. But Vinicius would be the impact sub, which is a role he has fulfilled multiple times this season. Hazard is the one who can step up in this big moment, and this City match could be destiny for him.