Zidane has summoned 24 players to play this Wednesday against Elche at the Martínez Valero (9:30 pm). On the list are everyone except Rodrygo, who is recovering from the injury he suffered against Granada and who will be out for three months. Modric returns after overcoming a small overload and there is Hazard, who will have minutes.
Hazard is back and hopes this time is the final one. The Belgian has returned from the mini-holidays in top shape, he has trained 100% since Sunday and this Wednesday he will play “a few minutes” against Elche at the Martínez Valero (9:30 pm), as Zidane has confirmed: “The idea is for him to play a little,” said the French coach.
Hazard, who suffered on November 23 a tear in the anterior rectus of the right thigh, he has been training with the group since last December 16. However, Zidane wanted to be cautious with him and decided not to take him to Eibar and not put him for a minute against Granada, even though he was on the bench,
Hazard He has only played two games this season and has scored two goals, against Huesca and Inter. Since his arrival at the club, 18 months ago, he has spent 291 days injured and 46 games have been lost for this reason. For thirteen months he has not played a full match. The loss of Rodrygo has left a free gap in Zidane's gala eleven and they are disputed between the Belgian, Asensio and Vinicius.
This is the full list:
Goalkeepers: Courtois, Lunin and Altube.
Defenses: Carvajal, Militao, Sergio Ramos, Varane, Nacho, Marcelo, Odriozola and Mendy.
Midfielders: Kroos, Modric, Casemiro, Valverde, Odegaard and Isco.
Forwards: Hazard, Benzema, Asensio, Lucas Vázquez, Jovic, Vinicius and Mariano.
The white infirmary
The white infirmary is emptier than ever this season. Injury absences have been common, but now only Rodrygo is out. Modric also returns to Elche, after he missed the last game against Granada due to a small contracture. He stopped as a precaution, to avoid injury, and the normal thing is that he returns to eleven in the Martínez Valero.
Even though he has almost everyone healthy, Zidane will go back to betting on the block he has grabbed for six consecutive victories. The French coach, for now, will leave behind the massive rotations of the past.
The coach's idea is to re-engage important players little by little, but not all at once. The calendar is tight in the coming weeks and his intention is to introduce small variations in the eleven, so that the automatisms that the team has taken in the last matches are maintained.