Zinedine Zidane maps out a plan to get the best out of Eden Hazard

Real Madrid want 2021 to be the year of Eden Hazard, who has not lived up to the billing as yet despite being signed for a club-record fee.

Real Madrid ended 2020 with a 1-1 draw against Elche but the fixture at Alicante marked the return of Eden Hazard from injury. The Belgium international has been extremely unlucky with his fitness at the Santiago Bernabeu in over a year and persistent injuries have kept him out of the squad more times than in it since arriving from Chelsea.

Zinedine Zidane continues to trust the player and rightly so, because his qualities simply cannot be questioned especially at a price tag thought to be exceeding 150 million euros. Hazard’s latest setback for Los Blancos was fortunately not an expensive one as they managed to knit a six-match winning run even without the lethal winger.

Nevertheless, Eden Hazard still continues to be a crucial player for the Merengues and a fully fit Hazard can surely be hazardous to the opponents. Zidane knows that as well as anyone else and hence, he has mapped out a plan to get the best out of him, which is working out well at least until the point of talking, OK Diario claims.

Firstly, Zizou wanted the 29-year-old to be clinically fit enough to make the matchday squad. At the back of several training sessions, Hazard finally achieved the level his manager desired and made the 24-man roster versus Granada. The plan continued against Elche, where he was supposed to get a few minutes under his belt, which he did.

With fixtures against Celta Vigo and Osasuna looming over the horizon as we enter 2021, it is unlikely that the Belgian will have a lot of involvement in those. The coaching staff is keen on keeping the player in the thick of action, but at the same time remains aware over the frailties and risk of another relapse of his several injuries, which is reason for care.

At the back of two league fixtures to start the New Year, Los Blancos face Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup which is a game Hazard is slated to start. The former Chelsea man would be nearly one-month into having made a full recovery from his latest setback and will feature against the Basques, and hopefully a final against one of Barcelona or Real Sociedad.