MADRID Zinedine Zidane admitted that “something is happening” with Eden Hazard after learning that the Belgian will miss the return match of the round of 16 of the Champions League against Atalanta due to a new muscle injury.
The Belgian international reappeared last Saturday during the victory against Elche after overcoming an injury that had kept him off the pitch since last January.
Hazard played the last minutes of the match without any apparent problems but on Monday the alarms went off after it became known that he was not in the training session prior to the decisive Champions League match against Atalanta.
Zidane confirmed the bad news at a press conference in which he left several messages uncertain. “He’s not going to be able to be with us. I can’t tell you any more. These are things I can’t tell you. At the moment he can’t be for tomorrow. I hope, because I’m always positive, that it’s a small thing,” he said. Zidane at the press conference.
“Something is happening anyway. He’s a player who’s never been injured, or rarely. It’s something new to him. I can’t tell you more. We’re with him and we want him to be okay. We want to help him. I hope he will be with us soon. “
Real Madrid announced shortly after that he suffers a muscle injury in the psoas of his right leg.
“Following the tests performed today on our player Eden Hazard by the Medical Services of Real Madrid he has been diagnosed with a muscle injury in his right psoas. Pending evolution,” the club announced on its website.
This is Hazard’s number 11 injury since he arrived in Madrid a year and a half ago. That is why Zidane, once again, asked the fans to calm down but added that he does not know if the best version of the Belgian will arrive on the bench without him.
“Let them wait. Our fans have to wait. We know who the player is. And we want to see Hazard play. Of course, like the club, like the players, like the staff. Right now you can’t. We’ll have patience. and wait, ”Zidane pointed out.
“We want to help Eden and we will. I don’t know if he will be with me, because he has a long contract, but I want to see Hazard as a player. And that will come. Sooner or later he will come. Now you have to be patient. “.
For the match against Atalanta, which Zidane described as a “final”, the coach will not be able to count on Casemiro, sanctioned. The coach did not want to give clues about his replacement and stated that everyone can do well.
“Tomorrow they’ll see how we’re going to play. Other players will do well because Casemiro can’t be. There are other players and we’re going to manage to make a great game.”
Finally, Zidane publicly praised a Rodrygo Goes whom he described as a “present and future player” but was a little lukewarm with the performance of Marc Asensio, who was not included by Luis Enrique in the list of Spain for commitments against Greece, Georgia and Kosovo.
“We will ask him to score more goals and this will come with time,” concluded the Frenchman about the Mallorcan footballer.