Eden Hazard has made a swift return to Real Madrid’s physio table after picking up a muscle injury 15 minutes into his substitute appearance against Elche.
The Belgian has now had eight major injuries since making an £88million move from Chelsea in 2019 and his latest setback will keep him out of Madrid’s crucial last-16 second leg against Atalanta in the Champions League this week.
Real Madrid confirmed the 30-year-old suffered a psoas muscle injury against Elche – his first game since January.
Hazard has missed 48 of 84 matches in his Real Madrid career and he will now take that tally beyond half a century with his latest setback set to keep him sidelined for up to six weeks.
He missed the open training session on Monday before the club confirmed Hazard had picked up a fresh injury in the 2-1 win over Elche.
Hazard was earmarked as the man to fill the void at the Bernabeu following Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure for Juventus in the summer of 2019, but the Belgian has looked a shadow of the player that delighted in the Premier League.
He has missed 17 La Liga games alone this season and he is yet to play a full 90 minutes in 2020-21. Hazard has not played a full game since November 2019.
Zidane became irritated at constant questions on Hazard’s health and whether the club’s medical department are to blame for his disastrous acclimatisation.
‘He is not going to be fit,’ Zidane said.
‘There are things I cannot explain. Like always I try to stay positive and hope it will be a little thing.
‘Something is happening. He is a player who was never injured in his career. We want to help him.’
Speaking last month, Zidane added: ‘Do you think he’s happy with what’s going on? Well, no. He’s doing what he can to be in good shape, but you know in the life of a player you can be injured.
‘I think it’s a bit of bad luck. It’s not been easy on the player.
EDEN HAZARD INJURIES IN MADRID
…………………………
Aug 2019: Hamstring (1 month)
Oct 2019: Ankle (3 months)
Feb 2020: Ankle (3 months)
Sep 2020: Ankle (1 month)
Sep 2020: Leg muscle (1 month)
Nov 2020: Hamstring (1 month)
Jan 2021: Thigh (6 weeks)
Mar 2021: Muscle (6 weeks)