Eden Hazard can restart his Real Madrid career on Wednesday night

When Real Madrid signed Eden Hazard from Chelsea in 2019 for a fee of at least 100 million euros, many thought that Los Blancos were getting their next big superstar. Everything about Hazard’s body of work over the years at Chelsea as the best player in the Premier League suggested that he was exactly what Real needed to support Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale in the attack.

Fast forward nearly two years later, and things have not gone to plan. Benzema is still one of the world’s best. But Bale is with Tottenham after an embarrassingly poor 2019-2020 season. And Hazard is struggling to stay healthy and put together a string of matches befitting his high price. It hasn’t helped that he was Real’s last major transfer, as the pandemic prevented Los Blancos from making any more notable upgrades to their attack.

There are some people who will gloss over Hazard’s highlights when he has been healthy, just so they can spin a narrative that Hazard has been an unmitigated disaster. This narrative is unfair and must be ignored. When Hazard has been healthy, he has shown excellent traits. He had PSG on strings before being injured in the same game. He has dominated clubs like Eibar, Huesca, and Alaves.

But Hazard has never been able to play in El Clasico. He’s only scored a couple of goals in his Real Madrid career. Nothing about his time in Madrid has gone to plan to this point, and the most frustrating thing is that there is nobody to blame. It is all misfortune to a player who previously had no injuries, regardless of all the hits he took in the Premier League.

Real Madrid need Eden Hazard to step up in order to beat Chelsea

Hazard has a chance to turn the narrative against him on its head this Wednesday night against his former employers, Chelsea. Real Madrid were atrocious from an attacking perspective in the first leg, as nobody other than Karim Benzema created chances. Real were lucky to escape 1-1, thanks to Benzema’s brilliance.

Chelsea’s defense has been incredible since Thomas Tuchel’s appointment. Benzema alone cannot lead Real to the next round on his own. He needs some assistance, and there is no player with the individual skill and experience who can provide that extra X-Factor better than Eden. Remember what these two did together in 2019-2020 before Hazard’s injury to PSG? We could see that on full display at Stamford Bridge.

Wednesday night’s second leg is a big game for every single player, coach, and individual affiliated with Real Madrid. But there is nobody for whom this game means more personally than Hazard – a man still adored by the Chelsea faithful.

Hazard is a magician. He is a special player whom you cannot help but root for no matter what. And we have been robbed of witnessing his gift on a weekly basis due to these recurring injuries. It now seems like Hazard is finally healthy, based on the way he moved gracefully in appearances against Real Betis and Osasuna. He even managed to start against the latter, playing 70 minutes this past weekend.

Now, it’s time for Eden Hazard to put it all together. This Chelsea game represents a fresh start for the Real Madrid superstar. It is a chance for Hazard to serve a reminder to the rest of the world – at Stamford Bridge, no less. The script seems set for the world-class left winger to transcend the match and lead Los Blancos back to the promised land, just as Florentino Perez had hoped when he opened the club’s coffers to sign the No. 7.