Round for Hazard – AS.com

Eden Hazard He is about to turn 32 (next week) and he has to do it on one of the last occasions to revive a career that has been in the dark for four seasons. The Copa del Rey is the last foothold the Belgian has left and this is how Hazard himself has interpreted it, who has surprised Madrid with its impetus in training since he returned from his disappointing World Cup in Qatar. El Cacereño, tomorrow, is the first stone that he must put if he wants to shorten the distance of the enormous bridge that separates him not only from ownership, but also from being the second option in one of the positions (left winger and false striker) where is handled.

Last season the Cup was already the vehicle of the 7 Madrid player to threaten to recover a version that reminded the footballer that cost more than €100M in 2018. In a match similar to tomorrow’s, in the round of 16 in Alcoy, gave an assist in the 1-3 white and then he raised his benefits in the round of 16, with a goal in the 1-2 in Elche. After that, she disappeared on Madrid’s cup ride…

Although right now there are three attackers with a lot of advantage over the rest (Benzema, Vinicius and Rodrygo), the question mark that this season poses with the biorhythms altered by the World Cup makes Ancelotti prefer to have as many plugged in as possible. The peculiar situation of Asensio, with the future in the air, also invites this. The first round of the Cup can be an unappetizing game, but Hazard can no longer afford to watch these games over his shoulder.

Three months without being a starter in Madrid…

The football oblivion into which Hazard has fallen forces us to go back to October to find the last time he started in a match as a starter for Madrid. It was on October 11 against Shakhtar in Warsaw and Ancelotti decided that it was one of the first two simultaneous changes, in the 57th minute. Before that, he had only started just a month before, in the 4-1 defeat of Mallorca at the Bernabéu, and his coach decided to replace him at almost the same moment. This time he was also in the first round of substitutions, although in the 59th minute. So far, Hazard does not go beyond the hour of play this season.