Zinedine Zidane has saved his playing cards near his chest on what form of position Eden Hazard might play in opposition to Chelsea within the Champions League semi-final – however refused to rule out a begin for Belgium.
Hazard has had an sad time with accidents since becoming a member of Actual Madrid from the Blues in 2019. He put Los Blancos’ £ 100 million again at the moment, however his health document has made him wrestle to preserve operating for the crew.
A recurring muscular drawback has restricted him to simply ten video games in all competitions this season, however he got here off the bench in opposition to Actual Betis this weekend to make his first look since March. His return got here simply three days earlier than Actual hosted Chelsea in the primary leg of the Champions League semi-final, so the story goes.
No participant created extra possibilities for Actual Madrid vs Betis than Eden Hazard.
He was solely on the sector for 13 minutes. ? pic.twitter.com/lOZz1jdDv7
– Squawka Soccer (@Squawka) April 24, 2021
Talking earlier than the deal on the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, Zidane was requested about Hazard’s possibilities to current. And whereas he didn’t give a lot away, he appeared actually optimistic that the winger performed a crucial position in opposition to his former membership.
“He performed 20 minutes in opposition to Betis and he felt fairly good,” mentioned Zidane, quoted by Sky Sports activities.
“A very powerful factor is that he doesn’t know something about his drawback. He is kind of good, he’s with us, he’s completely satisfied to be with us and contribute loads to the crew.”
? ✅ Our squad for the match? @ChelseaFC! #UCL pic.twitter.com/MdP90EP5ji
– Actual Madrid CF ???? (@realmadriden) April 26, 2021
The final time Hazard appeared in back-to-back video games was in January, when he picked up consecutive La Liga begins in opposition to Alaves and Levante. It got here in the course of a run with 5 straight league video games, his longest time since becoming a member of the membership nearly two years in the past.
Regardless of his poor health document, Hazard’s potential stays. Chelsea realize it’s nearly as good as anybody, as does supervisor Thomas Tuchel, who fears the Belgian could also be out to “show a degree”.
“Eden is a prime quality participant and he was the important thing participant right here for a few years, within the hardest league, so I actually have the best respect for him,” Tuchel mentioned at his pre-match press convention. “After all we speak loads as a result of he was an amazing participant right here and lots of know him rather well.
“He is in form and he had a comeback within the final sport for a couple of minutes to be prepared tomorrow. If he performs I am fairly positive he desires to make a degree. Let’s have a look at.”
