Eden Hazard already knows that this season is an ultimatum for him, his final opportunity to show whether or not he has what it takes to settle at Real Madrid. After two unsuccessful seasons, in which injuries made it very difficult for him and he did not put everything on his side either, this 2021-22 season he is prohibited from failing or hiding. Circumstances have accompanied him in this transfer market, but he still has a long way to go.
We say that the market has been kind to him because Real Madrid's acquisition of Mbappé was a direct shot to his waterline. In the current white scheme, the Frenchman was most likely going to be on the left, with Benzema at the top and with a free position on the right for Bale, Hazard, Vinicius, Rodrygo, Asensio, Lucas to fight for him … But Mbappé did not finally arrive, one less piranha in the white aquarium, in which Hazard, however, has already enough competition.
His main rival for the minutes is Vinicius and in this start of the course the Brazilian has eaten the toast without discussion: the Brazilian has three goals in 133 minutes; the Belgian, barely an assist in 137 '. Hazard started against Alavés and Levante, in the first two days; in Mendizorroza he fulfilled and gave a goal to Benzema, the first of the game, but in Valencia he disappeared. In those two games, in two final moments, Vinicius scored three goals, rescued a point for the whites at Levante's home and Ancelotti gave him the title against Betis, a match in which he fulfilled and participated in the final 0-1 play of Carvajal. Hazard, for his part, came out for just ten minutes and had a clear chance, but crashed into the goalkeeper with everything in his favor.
With that and with everything, it can be considered that Hazard's start to the season has been a step forward, in view of the references of the past. In the two previous seasons he appeared after the summer in obvious lack of form and overweight, which cost him muscle injuries that delayed his start to the course. This year, after the European Championship, he did not have time to be distracted and appeared better looking, which led Ancelotti to give him the title first.
With the green light in the physical section, the football player is missing, in which the exuberant Chelsea player is still not seen and even his first months in Madrid, in which he missed a goal, but he did show his wide repertoire of mischief in the band until his compatriot Meunier twisted his way in a Madrid-PSG Champions League. However, there is hope: green shoots appeared against Alavés and with Belgium they played a good game against Estonia and attended Vanaken when his team was having the worst, to equalize the shock to one; would end up winning 2-5.
Hazard has it better than Vinicius
After the break, everything indicates that Hazard will be the starter in the attacking trident ahead of Vinicius in the reopening of the Bernabéu on September 12, against Celta (9:00 p.m.). Not for a matter of performance, but of exhaustion: the Brazilian has been called up with his team and CONMEBOL extended this date international so much that the Latin Americans will arrive with little margin to their club duels.
Vinicius played the first part of the Chile-Brazil; He was weak and Tité replaced him after the break to give entry to Éverton, who would end up being the man of the match, scoring the only goal of the duel (0-1). Vini has the duel against Argentina, on Sunday at 9:00 p.m., and another against Peru, at dawn from Thursday to Friday (2:30 a.m.). In the best of cases, he could be in Madrid around 6:00 p.m. on Friday, with no margin to train and 48 hours before the duel against Celta. Nothing to do with Belgium, which on Wednesday plays its third game of the break in Belarus and Thursday could already be at the command of Ancelotti.