After Real Madrid reported Eden Hazard is injured again ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League match against Atalanta, Zinedine Zidane acknowledged that the club is struggling to explain the Belgian’s fitness issues.
Hazard made his first appearance in La Liga since January on Saturday, but Zidane said in a press conference on Monday that the Belgian is out again due to a “muscle injury in the right pelvis,” as the club reported.
When asked about the club’s long list of injuries, Zidane cited a variety of reasons, including “stuff up here in the brain, which affects a lot,” as well as “things up here in the head, which influences a lot.”
Hazard has only appeared 14 times for Real Madrid this season, continuing a nightmare run for the 30-year-old forward, who joined for €100 million from Chelsea in the summer of 2019.
“He’s not going to be ready. There is stuff I am unable to articulate. I try to remain optimistic as much as possible and hope it’s just a little annoyance. Something is going on. He has never been injured during his career. We’d like to assist him,” Zidane predicted.
⚪️ Real Madrid confirm that Eden Hazard has suffered a muscle injury.#UCL pic.twitter.com/tiwHvsnDdJ
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 15, 2021
Despite the high number of Madrid injuries this season, Zidane became irritated with the number of questions regarding Hazard and rejected suggestions of an issue with the club’s medical department.
“I don’t think there’s a problem; we have very professional people here who are regularly in touch with the players,” he said.
“We’re trying to figure out what’s going on with the injured players; accidents do happen in football. We’ve talked about the preseason, the number of games, and stuff going on in our heads, all of which affect.”
Karim Benzema said, “Eden had not had much luck since he arrived here in Madrid. It makes me feel sorry for him.”
