Eden Hazard out of the Atalanta clash with another injury

Zinedine Zidane confirmed in Monday’s pre-match press conference that Eden Hazard will miss the second leg of Real Madrid’s Champions League clash with Atalanta, owing to another setback in his recovery from injury. The former Chelsea star came on during the final 15 minutes of Madrid’s win against Elche and now faces time on the sideline again. 

“Something is going on,” Zidane revealed when asked about Hazard during Monday’s pre-match press conference. “He has never been injured in his career and this is new for him. I can’t explain more.

“We all want to help him. I hope he will be with us soon, I don’t know if it will be with me, because he has a long contract,” he explained.

“But sooner or later Hazard will come good. We have to be patient. I ask the fans to wait for Hazard. We know what a player he is.The fans want to see Eden Hazard play, like the club, the coach and his teammates. We have to be patient and wait.”

The Belgian was absent from Madrid’s training session on Monday, and will not even make the bench for their game against the Serie A club. This season, Hazard has missed 21 games due to injury and has only played in 14 across all competitions. 

Eden Hazard’s quality has never been the subject of debate. However, if the player is never fit and available for selection, the question surrounding his value to the team becomes very difficult to answer positively. Something has to change for the player soon if he hopes to try and have another chance at fighting for his place in Madrid.