Listen to this story
--:--
4:10
Real Madrid Vs Rayo Vallecano: Hazard's opportunity
This Saturday, Real Madrid receives a Rayo Vallecano who seems better and more difficult to beat each time. This is how this team has been considered the revelation of the tournament so far with a perfectly defined eleven.
So far, Rayo Vallecano has shown itself to be a very solid team in defense and in the center of the field, so it is difficult for rivals to be able to hurt them or create scoring chances and those who have a Radamel Falcao increasingly plugged in. The Colombian has become a very important piece for Iraola.
On the side of Real Madrid, the local team will not have Fede Valverde, the loss of the Uruguayan has conditioned the combinations of Carlos Ancelotti. As for the front, there are two fixed seats, and they are Benzema and Vinicius who right now are untouchable from the starting eleven.
While for the remaining option there was Rodrygo until his injury came, so there are only two footballers left, Marco Asensio and Eden Hazard. Most of the madridistas hope to see the Belgian back in action and in very good condition.
Hazard's possible return to the starting eleven
During the press conference prior to this game, the Italian coach Carlos Ancelotti has anticipated that Eden Hazard will have minutes in this commitment, although he did not confirm whether he will start or not.
In this way, this commitment to the complicated Rayo is presented as the umpteenth opportunity for Hazard to return to his best rhythm of play, a footballer that all the Madrid fans and the club managers continue to wait despite the fact that they have already passed more than two seasons since his arrival.
Since the Belgian star landed at the Bernabéu unfortunately he has not been able to show the same level he had at Chelsea and who at that time before reaching the white team was considered one of the top 5 players worldwide.
Injuries have become his worst enemy since he arrived at the Spanish club, although right now injuries do not seem to be the main problem for the Belgian. This is how Hazard has the approval of the club's doctors to play in the last two games. However, I only played 5 minutes against Elche.
Against Osasuna he added 21 minutes of games, he did not play in the classic against Barcelona, 18 minutes against Espanyol and 17 minutes before Villarreal and he has not started since the last defeat against the Sheriff on September 28.
In this way, the Belgian only adds 408 minutes in 16 games that the team has this season, an average of 25 minutes per game and only five appearances in the starting eleven. It is expected that this Saturday he will start as a starter in the team.
Right now the main problem for the Belgian is his coach, that is how Ancelotti has said that Hazard has a problem and that is that the coach does not have him. Right now the Belgian is behind Vinicius, Rodrygo (injured) and Asensio.
However, Rodrygo's injury has opened the doors for him to watch a few minutes against Rayo and once again have an opportunity to show everyone what he has and knows how to do with the ball.
Hazard holder?
Everything indicates that the Belgian player will start this Saturday night and Asensio, who is Ancelotti's favorite, will be playing as a midfielder. But Hazard would have a problem this time and that is that he will have to play on the right wing even though the player always plays on the opposite side.
The big problem for Hazard right now is Vinicius, who has managed to stay with the Belgian's band and for now the times for the Brazilian player to change bands to leave it to the Belgian again.
In Zidane's tenures this was very possible, but now with Ancelotti everything has changed and Hazard will have to get used to the right wing if he wants to have minutes at Real Madrid. Currently, the numbers give the reason to the Italian coach, and he cannot move Vinicius from that band when he is doing better.
This season the Brazilian has nine goals and seven assists, while Hazard only has five goals and nine passes in the two and a half seasons with Real Madrid, a statistic of terrible numbers for a player of his quality.
Real Madrid have an eternal wait for Eden and that has not yet arrived. Everything seems to indicate that the Belgian would be playing his last season in the white team if he does not finish taking off. Ancelotti no longer has him and if he does not reach his best level at the end of the season he will no longer be part of this squad.