Hazard, where it all began

Eden Hazard will not have good memories of his visit to Levante on February 22, 2020: Madrid fell (1-0) and he had to retire at 67 ' with obvious gestures of pain in his right ankle, caused by a bad heel strike since it took him headlong to the operating room and deepened the wound that his time at the white club is involving both the entity and himself. This Sunday, the Belgian returns to the scene of the crime with the hope of a better future, watered by the good feelings that he left in the league debut in Mendizorroza against Alavés, with a resounding victory (1-4) and assistance from the Belgian to Benzema. High-heeled, to be sure.

The Ciutat de Valencia was not the first stick that Hazard took in that 2019-20 academic year, the first in which he wore white after spending Madrid 100 million to get him out of Chelsea. But it was undoubtedly the most painful, as unexpected and cruel. Months before, on November 26, 2019, his compatriot Meunier hit hard during a Madrid-PSG of Champions his right ankle, which had already undergone an operation during his time at Chelsea and where he was wearing a titanium plate.

An ordeal of injuries for Hazard

The collision caused a fissure in the fibula that could already require surgery, but Madrid opted for a conservative treatment. Two and a half months later, Hazard reappeared in the league against Celta at home, in a surprisingly good tone. And the next day, at the Levante house, the fibula said enough again. Madrid accepted this time that he underwent surgery, under pressure from the Belgian Federation, who wanted him ready for the European Championship.

His discharge coincided with confinement and he returned to play almost four months later. But the consequences have been evident: since the operation, games have been lost for 13 different reasons. On Sunday, 547 days after that poisoned heel, Hazard returned to the Ciutat de Valencia with the good feelings that feeling yourself again gives. He sees it like this too: “The ankle is out of my head. We are going to give it our all ”.