The fact that Eden Hazard started on the bench against Frankfurt cannot have hit anyone like a bomb. But the fact that the Red Devil was not allowed to come in even with a 2-0 lead, raised eyebrows. Also with analysts Marc Degryse and Jan Mulder in the VTM studio. “I think Ancelotti is an amicable man”, Mulder starts off. “Always polite, at Everton he went to the grocer himself. A very nice man. But towards Hazard he behaves like a squat.”
Hazard would be played out as a false nine as a backup for Benzema this season, but Degryse does not believe much. “They told him myths. Rodrygo is the twelfth man, who also dragged Real through a few times last year. And Benzema continues to play. Maybe Hazard gets minutes in the small games, but you don’t get the best Eden with that either.”
A (temporary) departure seems to be the only remaining option to play weekly. “But the big stumbling block is that salary of 25 million euros per year,” Mulder thinks. “He must have been gone in January,” says Degryse. “They just have to find a solution for that salary. If necessary, they rent it to Newcastle and each pay half. Now Real pays 25 million euros for nothing. But apart from the money – he already has enough -, is this a humiliation for the footballer Hazard? Painful!”
