Hazard brings poison

Even from a 0-0 at home against Betis you can extract, with pick and rake, some golden streak. For Real Madrid it is sigh again thinking that this time, even if it is the eleventh, it is the good one with Eden Hazard. “I have seen him with spark, with energy.” Zidane has left his cautious phrases with respect to the Belgian in the closet and gives optimism: “The sensations are good and he has no discomfort.” A recovery with nuances but with room for hope.

With Hazard, what is seen is as important as what is not, those internal sensations. Until he has given the green light himself, he has not played again. The club and Zidane gave him free rein to recover under a certain freedom and putting themselves in more direct hands of the doctors of his selection. With Hazard it was about curing his psoas and his own fears.

Once the muscle healed, there were twelve sessions with the group and two specific ones. But one thing is training, where the Madrid 7 is protected, and another to be seen under dangerous grass, the rain and a forest of Betic legs. He left with 15 minutes to go, asked for the ball where it hurts (he gave 11 of his 12 passes in the Betis field) and had a braided drive with Benzema where he finally saw Claudio Bravo in the peephole. There Hazard hinted that his mind is still healing. It was a clear shot, the kind he likes, but he preferred to give the leather to Vinicius. Those who have been down there detected the diagnosis. “You can tell that he still doesn't have confidence, because from there he has scored a lot of goals”, analyzed Pichi Alonso in La Casa del Fútbol. Álvaro Benito, in Carrusel, was also confused (“He had a shot, but …”) and neither did one who saw him at grass level, Courtois, who knows closely what is going through Eden's head. “I was sorry that he didn't try, sometimes you have to be more selfish”, admitted, from the constructive spirit, the Belgian goalkeeper.

Dry … in the most decisive section

For Zidane, with this Madrid that has remained unmarked in three of its last four games, seeing this zigzagging Hazard despite doubts is seeing the glass half full. “We are going to take advantage of the fact that he has returned”. Martín Vázquez, on television, went further: “I think it has been slow to reappear because the Eurocup is there, but Hazard can be a fundamental footballer in the final stretch”. In a less lethal Madrid and with a Chelsea that is a bone, Hazard brings poison.

Zizou, thirsty for a goal despite his continuous praise of the team's defensive discipline, has reasons, because Hazard's almost two seasons at Madrid are an anomaly in his career. His four goals as a Real Madrid player do not reflect his power, with those 21 goals in his last campaign at Stamford Bridge, crowned in his last game with the blues with the double in the final of the Europa League of which he was the MVP. The two seasons before that, 17 targets each. Goal in his boots there. For now, before its Chelsea will now have another peak of motivation. On Tuesday, Eden Hazard joins the battle.