Real Madrid: 3 takeaways from a 2-0 win over Osasuna

Eden Hazard looks ready for Chelsea

From the moment he stepped back onto the pitch for Real Madrid against Real Betis, Eden Hazard looked a little bit like his old self. The former Chelsea superstar had some electric touches against Los Verdiblancos last weekend, though his team could not find the goal they needed to avoid dropping points.

Then, Hazard came off the bench against his former employers on Tuesday night. He played pretty well, too, though, again, Real could not find a goal in the few minutes he was on the pitch.

Hazard played for about 70 minutes at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano as a tune-up for Wednesday night’s battle at Stamford Bridge. The story of the Belgian’s performance should not be the lack of goals from the team, but, rather his individual excellence.

He had one particularly delightful play, somehow sending a perfect backheel from around the sideline to a dangerous position for Marco Asensio to then swing in a ball into the box. Hazard looked sharp and spry for more than an hour, creating chances, dropping deep, and combining well.

You can only imagine the damage he could have caused in a No. 10 role with wingers who were playing at a higher level. Real Madrid didn’t find their breakthrough until after he left the pitch, but, for my money, Hazard was the team’s best attacker.