‘He is going from bad to WORSE’: Spanish media SLAM Eden Hazard’s performance in Real Madrid’s shock Spanish Super Cup defeat to Athletic Bilbao, insisting he has ‘no place’ in Zinedine Zidane’s team
- Real Madrid slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday night
- Eden Hazard struggled to make an impact and was substituted after 67 minutes
- The Belgium captain has underperformed since his arrival from Chelsea in 2019
- A Spanish outlet slated his display and says there’s no sign of any improvement
Eden Hazard has been slammed in the Spanish media for his lacklustre performance during Real Madrid’s defeat at Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup semi-finals.
Bilbao stormed into a 2-0 lead before Karim Benzema grabbed a late consolation, but it was Belgium captain Hazard – who has struggled to make an impact since his £130m move from Chelsea in 2019 – whose display triggered criticism.
In fact, Spanish paper AS went so far as to say that the winger’s spell at Madrid is ‘going from bad to worse’, insisting he has ‘no place’ in Zinedine Zidane’s team – Hazard was substituted after 67 minutes at La Rosaleda on Thursday night.
Eden Hazard struggled to make an impact as Real Madrid lost to Athletic Bilbao on Thursday
The Belgian failed to complete a single dribble past a player and was substituted on 67 minutes
Hazard failed to execute a single successful dribble past a player and his lack of influence on proceedings was not lost on AS.
The report describes the 30-year-old as ‘without influence in the game, incapable of generating dangerous situations, bland and with a tendency to disappear from the field of play with each minute that passes.
It continues: ‘Madrid awaits him and there is no time. Eden also has no place for now. He is looking for it, but he needs to earn it: with performances like against Osasuna or against Athletic, no short-term solution is seen…’
Marca, meanwhile, said: ‘The Belgian isn’t himself. He played more centrally and, although he was active, he went off for Vinicius and still needs to do more.’
Hazard did not influence proceedings in a display which sums up his poor start at the club
Since his arrival 18 months ago, Hazard has scored just three times in 32 appearances for Zidane’s side and has struggled with fitness problems and injuries.
However, following last night’s defeat, Zidane insisted everyone needs to be ‘patient’ with Hazard, who he admits is clearly low on confidence.
‘He needs to recover confidence, play a great game or score a goal, just to do something different,’ Zidane told reporters.
Zinedine Zidane said the club must be patient with Hazard, who is running low on confidence
‘We know what a great player he is and we need to be patient with him as he is working hard.
‘We are behind him and we must give him time. The fans want to see the best version of Eden so we must be patient. We’re sticking with him and he really wants to step up. But today it wasn’t just Eden, we’re all in this together.’
Real won last year’s Super Cup but they were caught out by an intense Athletic side improving quickly under the guidance of coach Marcelino, who was taking charge of his second match since succeeding Gaizka Garitano – they will play Barcelona in the final on Sunday.
