Real Madrid: Expectations for Eden Hazard vs. Chelsea

Eden Hazard was supposed to be the next big player of Real Madrid after his signing in the summer of 2019. But that never happened, and everyone knows why. Injuries have ruined his Real Madrid career, and with each day the hope of him turning around his career at Real Madrid is diminishing.

While it was the ankle injury suffered in the home game against Paris Sanit-Germain in November of 2019 which hampered his first season with Los Blancos, multiple and repetitive muscle injuries have curbed his 2020/21 season. He has played only 649 minutes this season, in which he has scored three goals.

He has started only nine games this season, and the biggest game he had played was perhaps the Supercopa de Espana semi-final against Athletic Bilbao. He missed the Round of 16 and quarter-final ties, both the Clasico’s and Madrid derbies as well. So practically tomorrow’s game against his former club Chelsea might be his first big game of the season.

He has been training with the team for the past two to three weeks, but it wasn’t until the Real Betis game that he returned to action on the 24th of April. Zinedine Zidane has been very cautious in how he has dealt with Eden Hazard, and he has tried his best not to rush the Belgian and avoid any possible relapse of the injury.

He had played only 13 minutes in the 0-0 draw against Real Betis, but there were some positives in his brief cameo. He did look slower than his usual self, which is kinda obvious considering the number of muscle injuries he has suffered in the past ten months, but he looked sharp. His passes were purposeful and the intent was visible. But he looked low on confidence, as he opted not to shoot from a promising position into which he got after a blazing run. Other than that, his connection with Marcelo, Karim Benzema, and Vinicius Jr was indeed promising.

Eden Hazard could play for about 30 minutes against Chelsea

After a positive performance like that, any manager would be tempted to start him tomorrow given his talent and the importance of the occasion. But we can expect Zinedine Zidane to start the Belgian international from the bench, and use Vinicius Jr from the start, who has been very promising in the last few weeks.

Given that he played only 13 minutes against Betis, we can expect Hazard to be introduced around the 60th-minute mark, which will enable him to regain match fitness gradually. But if the situation is catastrophic and Zidane’s side needs an urgent turnaround in the second half, then it wouldn’t be surprising if Hazard is subbed on at halftime.

In an ideal scenario, Hazard would love to enter the field with zero pressure from the scoreline, which will enable him to play freely. If Real Madrid leads by the time of Hazard’s entry, there would be more spaces for Hazard to occupy, and the possibilities of counter-attacks will increase the chance of scoring a goal.

But if the scoreline is still level until Hazard’s entry, the situation will demand more from the Belgian. Given his price tag and reputation, there will be pressure on him to create something and be useful on such an important occasion. Chelsea’s defence has been resilient this season, especially since Thomas Tuchel’s entry and Hazard will find it very difficult to get the better of the Chelsea defence.

We can expect a thrilling encounter tomorrow, but in Hazard’s case, the expectations will depend upon the time at which he enters the field and the scoreline at the point of his entry. But if the usually patient Zinedine Zidane takes the risk and surprised everybody by starting Eden Hazard tomorrow, then we can expect a season-defining performance from him. He’s desperate to prove himself, and a great performance tomorrow on a big night can completely turn around his Real Madrid career.