Eden Hazard has had a horrid time with injuries during his time at Real Madrid. All of those struggles are well-documented, so I don’t think it is necessary to go into those details again here.
Hazard picked up an injury while playing for Belgium against France during the international break. Early reports suggested that it was just a muscle overload, but then he was sent back to Madrid for further testing.
Now, the testing has been done, and according to Edu Aguirre of El Chiringuito, there is no muscle tear, which is very good news.
But, according to the journalist, he still is a doubt for the games against Shakhtar and Barcelona.
However, soon after, Real Madrid’s Twitter uploaded a picture of Hazard training with the group.
Real Madrid would love to have Hazard back against Barcelona
Given Hazard’s track record, I think it’s best if Hazard stays on the bench, at least against Shakhtar, unless he feels 100% fit.
Hazard has had a good start to the season and he has been leading the team and the league in a few statistics, giving us glimpses of the old Eden Hazard.
Playing Hazard against a troubled Barcelona team would be great, because he could give them a lot of problems, and everyone would be hoping for a fully fit Belgian against the Catalans, which shouldn’t be that big of a problem since he’s already training with the team.
But, I wouldn’t blame you if you were still thinking about whether he’d feature against Shakhtar, because even though he is training, Ancelotti could opt against starting him in the Champions League fixture so that he’s 100% for the game against Barcelona.
If the Real Madrid man doesn’t feature for the team next weekend, it will prolong the wait for Hazard to finally feature in a Clasico since he joined Real Madrid, but now that he’s back in training, I think he should be OK for the game. However, as I said, if I were Ancelotti, I would keep him on the bench against Shakhtar. I’m sure he’d want the Belgian in top condition against Real Madrid’s eternal rivals, as he searches for his third Clasico win as Madrid coach.