Eden Hazard returns: maybe the eleventh will be the charm

Manuel Pellegrini led 48 games for Real Madrid eleven years ago. He was the first coach of the second era Florentino Pérez and the president surrounded him with a dream squad. At one blow Cristiano, Kaká, Benzema, Xabi Alonso and Albiol arrived and the club spent 258 million to re-float a staff in decline. In return Sneijder and Robben came out against the Chilean's opinion. It was the first disagreement. Pellegrini offered the perfect image: experience in four leagues, ability to withstand pressure (due to his past at River Plate) and knowledge of Spanish football (due to his five years at Villarreal). Madrid added 96 points. With that figure he would only have lost three of the 89 leagues disputed. And one of them was that, with Guardiola's Barça at its peak. That, plus the elimination in the second round of the Champions League at the hands of Lyon and the 'alcorconazo' in the Cup, liquidated the coach.

Then he met again with Madrid. He even won a game with Málaga, but neither with City nor with Betis he could beat the whites. With him, the green-and-white team has gone from less to more until placing sixth, close to closing its European market. So it is a real threat for a Madrid that still shoots two targets and appears less diminished than in previous weeks (follow today's game live on As.com).

The eternal return

With Chelsea at the gates, Hazard returns to a list. It has been 39 days since his last injury (the tenth, plus the tip coronavirus), the longest of the muscular injuries he has suffered in his entire career. The last therapy has been patience, but he will hardly have time to help the team fully. Since January 30, he has only played 16 minutes against Elche. In two years in Madrid he has 36 games, only five complete ones. In his worst campaign of the previous ones he played 42. Here he has been breaking all his negative records: he had never scored fewer than six goals, given fewer than seven assists and played fewer than 2,900 minutes in the same season. In Madrid he has not come close to those records or far. We are therefore faced with an unexpected puncture. Madrid has remained alive without him and has shot Vinicius.

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On the other side is Benzema. With 27 goals he is already very close to the 32 that are his top in a year, but his weight in the team is infinitely higher than that of his most productive course. In the campaign of their 32 goals (2011-2012) Madrid scored 174. Theirs accounted for 18% of the total. Now they reach 35% And, if the assists are added, he has participated in half of the white goals. His last sequence is brutal: 15 goals in the last 17 games. Cristiano's rhythm.

So, even though the Champions League tightens, Zidane cannot be spared. Land will probably surround a team similar to that of Cádiz, this time with Carvajal at the start. Modric's physical condition (Kroos is out) will depend on whether he repeats with the three centrals or not. And Blanco is likely to lengthen his dream. Asensio, a substitute at Carranza, aims to start today.

The year of Channels

Meanwhile, Betis mourns the loss of Fekir, sent off after ten minutes of Wednesday's game against Athletic. Without being a scorer, he is in all sauces. He has participated in 24 of the Verdiblancos goals in this League (57%), which places him eighth in the championship in this chapter. In addition, he is the fourth that shoots the most, the third that dribbles the most and the one that receives the most fouls.

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The loss of the Frenchman will lead the playmaker to Sergio Canales, in the year of his life. He has already scored ten goals, a record number in his career, and has made a place for himself in the National Team. After three tears of the anterior cruciate ligament, enjoy the best moment in a Betis that has only lost two games in 2021 and that he only shoots less than Madrid and Barça, but that he arrives with four consecutive draws that have slowed him down. The Cantabrian will lead a team that loses Tello. That opens the way for Joaquín, who at the age of 39 is celebrating his twentieth anniversary with Madrid. Neither he nor the public get tired.