What Eden Hazard said on his first season at Real Madrid, offers injury update

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Eden Hazard has admitted that his first season at Real Madrid has been underwhelming, but expects to be judged on his second year in the Spanish capital.

As noted by BBC Sport, the Belgian international joined the La Liga giants last summer from Chelsea, in a deal that could potentially cost over £150m.

SEE MORE: Arsenal actively reach out to Real Madrid to offload star player in swap deal

However, the 29-year-old has endured a frustrating campaign this year, with injuries limiting him to just 15 appearances across all competitions.

He still managed to contribute a goal and five assists in those outings, but having picked up lengthy injury blows, it hasn’t been the ideal first year in Spain.

Nevertheless, Hazard is remaining positive and while he offered a promising update on his injury after undergoing surgery in February, he also insists that he will be judged on his second season at Real Madrid where he’ll undoubtedly hope to steer clear of injuries and show his real worth.

“I’m fine! I’m not going out, I’m looking after myself. I’m recovering [from surgery], they took out the stitches last week. Now I can start working a bit harder. I can walk again so everthing’s going well!” he told RTBF, as quoted by AS.

“My first season in Madrid has been bad, but it’s not all bad. It’s a season of adaptation. I’ll be judged on my second season. It’s a great group of players, I’ve met a lot of new people. It’s been a great experience for me. I’ve still got four years left on my contract and I hope to be in form.

“I don’t know when we’ll play again. I spoke to Zidane yesterday and he doesn’t know either. We just have to try and stay in shape. We don’t know if the league will start up again or not, we hope so and that’ll it’ll be a good end to the season. If we can’t [finish the season] that’s just the way it is.”

Football across the world is currently on hold due to the coronavirus crisis, and with Spain hit particularly hard along with Italy among the European countries, it remains to be seen if it’s deemed safe for La Liga to resume.

As things stand, Real Madrid face a deficit in both the title race and the Champions League to Barcelona and Manchester City respectively, and so whether or not Hazard is fit when the schedule resumes, they have it all to do to ensure that this is a successful season.

With EURO 2020 being postponed by UEFA until next year, Hazard’s main aim at this stage will be to try to work towards full fitness and be in contention if he is called into action for Real Madrid to complete the domestic campaign.

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