The Belgian star was grateful to have faced some tough challenges. As Real Madrid made a winning return at La Liga, Zinedine Zidane was delighted to see Eden Hazard impress saying Hazard began the match at Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium on Sunday as Madrid won 3-1 against Eibar to move back to two points of Barcelona’s league leadership.
Hazard’s first season at the club has been blighted by injury issues following his £ 88 million ($112 m) transfer from Chelsea and there were fears his career was over when he fractured his ankle in February.
The coronavirus-enforced break gave the forward more time to recover and he looked sharp against Eibar in the first half, setting up Sergio Ramos for the second goal and playing a key role in the third of Marcelo.
The danger was on the receiving end of some intense challenges and was replaced after 61 minutes, but there were few issues with head coach Zidane.
“We knew Eden lacked a bit of rhythm to play the entire game. Ultimately, he played for an hour and also played well. They gave him a good blow, a scare, but that’s football. He said he was all right at the break, he was glad he was hit, so he wasn’t afraid. He’s pleased about what he’s done and we’re glad, too,” Zidane said.
In the fourth minute, Toni Kroos broke the deadlock as Madrid dominated the first half, but their standards slipped after the break and Eibar threatened to make life difficult after Pedro Bigas deflected in a Pablo De Blasis shoot.
Zidane said, “It’s quite a different thing than what we’ve done before. We’ve got than adjust. We started the game well but in the second half, it was difficult. I don’t think it was physical because we’re well prepared. The first half I’m going to take-that was dominant. It is a significant win. Perhaps we relaxed in the second. Especially there wasn’t one thing. We had to make the changes: Dani Carvajal sprayed his ankle, Ramos also had discomfort, Danger because he hadn’t played for a long time … I don’t think it was the changes that changed the game.”
