Real Madrid vs Cadiz: This could be Eden Hazard’s big chance

Real Madrid is struck by COVID. As many as seven cases have been confirmed, of which six are players of the club while the one remaining case is that of Davide Ancelotti, the head assistant coach of the first team. Players like Marcelo and Andriy Lunin testing positive for COVID-19 may not have an immediate impact on the club’s performance or chances of playing the upcoming fixtures before 2021 ends.

However, the other players who have tested positive will very much have an impact on Real Madrid’s starting XI for the upcoming matches. I have already talked about which players need to step up for Luka Modric’s absence. Meanwhile, the situation on the right-wing is very troublesome, to say the least.

Carlo Ancelotti’s first-choice, Marco Asensio was quietly finding form as well as consistency in the games against Inter and Atletico Madrid. Alas, the Spaniard contracted the virus in the worst time possible as he’ll once again continue battling his biggest problem, consistency.

On the other hand, Rodrygo Goes, the talented Brazilian youngster, who was making headway on the right-wing before he sustained an injury will also miss out on the upcoming games having contracted the virus. The final player infected is Gareth Bale who made it into the squad for the last game but didn’t make his return. The Welshman will now have to wait for another couple of weeks or so before he can return to playing.

Therefore, the right-wing could be one difficult position for Carlo Ancelotti to decide upon before the Cadiz game. The two first-team options available to Carlo Ancelotti are Lucas Vazquez and Eden Hazard who both appeared on our ranked list of RW options for Real Madrid. The air around this decision has finally cleared a little and it seems like Eden Hazard will get his start against Cadiz. However, these aren’t the only options available. As my colleague Kevin says, Castilla star Peter Federico could also be a name to consider.

Eden Hazard has a chance to make a statement vs. Cadiz

However, I’d like to believe that Carlo Ancelotti will stick with his plan and go with a more experienced first-team star. Keeping Lucas Vazquez to come up for Dani Carvajal in the second half, if need be, would be a better game plan to go with. Peter Federico is an exciting prospect and he can surely be kept in the Matchday squad and actually can be given some first-team minutes towards the end of the game. But, Eden Hazard should start the game.

Real Madrid fans should really appreciate Eden Hazard’s resilience. He has been surrounded by enough problems at the Spanish Capital and yet, he is staying patient and waiting for his chance. He had his chance to leave in the summer but the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti made him stay and he, in fact, was central to Ancelotti’s ideas for the season.

We saw how Hazard was stripped of the first position in the pecking order by the electric Vinicius Junior who has cemented his place on the left side of the front three. Hazard, however, is also effective on the right and my shout is for Eden Hazard to start in the front three as the right-winger or in a free role as he was doing at the beginning of the season.

A player of Hazard’s standards wasn’t made for a Real Madrid career as such. He must have reached heights by now as the replacement for the great Cristiano Ronaldo. However, fate had other plans. He was faced with an athlete’s worst nightmare, lack of fitness, and constant injury problems resultantly. The reunion with Antonio Pintus promised a lot, and it is now certain that he will finally get his opportunity against Cadiz this weekend.

Hazard was playing really well at the beginning of the season. He started proceedings for Real Madrid with an intelligent flick assist for Karim Benzema against Alaves in the first Matchday in LaLiga. He played really well against Valencia placing six key passes, per WhoScored. And, overall his linkup play with Benzema and Vinicius was a treat to watch. We hope the Belgian can make the best of this opportunity and redeem his image a little. He is, after all, determined not to leave Madrid as a failure.