Real Madrid: 3 players who must step up after loss to Alcoyano

Real Madrid LW Eden Hazard

While Eden Hazard did not start in this Copa del Rey loss, he did come off the bench in the 98th minute. Although he won three successful dribbles, per Sofascore.com, and four total duels, he also lost the ball four times and created just a sole chance for his team in 22 minutes of desperate attacking against Alcoyano.

Basically, Hazard failed to impress off the bench against a third-division side. And this is after he’s had a string of below-par performances, including a dreadful outing in the Spanish Supercup semifinal loss to Athletic Club.

Hazard is supposed to be Real Madrid’s best player. Florentino Perez opened the club’s account to spend 100 million euros on the Belgian, expecting that Hazard would be their superstar player. He’s had some good moments for Real, no doubt, but fans know that they need to see more from the player in order for his price tag to be justified.

From what we saw at Chelsea, Hazard was worth every penny of the deal at the time. But in 2021, Madridistas are concerned they will never see a return on investment. Performances like the ones against Athletic Club and Alcoyano won’t do much to allay those fears.

Over the next, must-win La Liga matches, Hazard must be great. There are no excuses. And after watching Vinicius Junior struggle even more against Alcoyano, there is even more pressure on Hazard to be the one to rise to the occasion.