Two 15-minute spells against Elche and Celta have been enough for Hazard to become aware that he will have a difficult time at Real Madrid beyond the priority given him by his star past. The return of the Belgian after his ninth injury has coincided with the best moment of Lucas Vázquez and Asensio and with Zidane very sure in the idea that he has already found his ideal eleven, a 4-3-3 with the Galician and the Balearic of extremes, both, in addition, very applied in defense.
Lucas Vázquez has been the great revelation of this season. He was one of the names that were being considered to leave Madrid in the last summer market but he opted to stay and rush the options in his last year of contract. Now, its renewal, due to the performance it is showing, is taken for granted. He has already played 16 games in a row as a starter. And the goal he scored against Celta was very special. He had not scored a header in La Liga since his goal in 48 seconds against Real Sociedad in 2018. Furthermore, his last 4 goals in LaLiga had come from Benzema. And he did not score after assistance from a player other than French since 2018 (Cristiano). In this case, he took advantage of a pass from Asensio, Hazard's other 'problem' …
Asensio is regaining confidence dropper but that has earned him to participate in four of the last five goals for Madrid. Against Celta he scored the second and was reunited with the opposite goal after 20 games played this season. Ten of those 20 games he has played as a starter. It is a clear bet of Zidane, who had in his ideology at the beginning of the season a trident with the Mallorcan, Benzema and Hazard himself, but that He has seen how Lucas's irruption has pushed Asensio to the left, where he is more effective. He has been decisive for three games: Granada, Elche and Celta.
Back with the Belgian.
In that context Hazard must now fit in, since being the franchise player seems to have the position assured. But, on the other hand, Zidane does not seem willing to give him titles, and he does seem to be taking shape by playing the final minutes of the matches. “With Hazard you have to be patient, a lot of patience, go little by little”, Zidane said only after the victory against Celta. But so little by little it goes that the Belgian has only been able to play 8 games this season (two goals, one in the Champions League and one in the League).
Hazard's valuation is plummeting. When he signed for Madrid, Transfermarkt's algorithms gave him a market valuation of 150 million euros. Today its appraisal is at 60 million. Since he arrived at the white team, a total of 48 games have been lost due to muscle injuries, trauma and the coronavirus. He has only played 30% of the possible minutes as a Real Madrid player. A case of bad luck that Asensio and Lucas Vázquez have used to shine.