It was a tough ask, but there was a time when Eden Hazard would have risen to the occasion.
Real Madrid were without talisman Karim Benzema for Sunday’s match against Real Mallorca in La Liga. The French goal machine picked up what Carlo Ancelotti described as a “small issue” in the 3-0 win over Celtic in the Champions League on Tuesday. Now was Hazard’s chance to fill his boots.
The Belgian forward had already played an hour in the role, having been chosen by Ancelotti as the best replacement for Benzema in Glasgow. He even scored against Celtic, registering what was just his seventh goal in 69 appearances for Real since he made his blockbuster transfer from Chelsea for a fee which could exceed £150million back in June 2019.
Benzema is not an easy man to replace. He has scored 327 goals for Real after all. But back when Hazard was on top of the world at Chelsea, this would feel like a brief he was capable of – especially when his manager had done his very best to take the pressure off pre-match.
“We won't change our system just because Benzema is out,” Ancelotti said on Saturday. “Hazard will play tomorrow. He hasn't got the goalscoring streak like Karim, it's been a long time since he's played and I won't ask that of him. We mustn't lose the good run we're on in front of goal, we're linking up well and moving nicely. We don't need to change anything.”
In the end, Ancelotti was proven right. Real came from behind to beat Mallorca 4-1, maintain their perfect start to the season and keep top spot. But it was not a happy afternoon for Hazard, who was substituted in the 59th minute having contributed very little.
During his golden years at Chelsea, in which he scored 110 goals and registered 92 assists, Hazard was the master of beating players from his position on the left wing, making finishing look easy and setting up tap-ins for his teammates. Those days now look long gone.
He was not helped by Ancelotti’s insistence of playing him as a central attacker, but with Vinicius Jr in his favoured left-sided role and Rodrygo on the opposite flank, he didn’t have much choice. “We don't have a natural replacement for the best centre forward in the world,” Ancelotti reasoned. “There is no substitute for him on the market but he can be replaced by other players with different attributes.”
Those “different attributes” turned out to be a negative rather than a positive. Hazard was not isolated – he touched the ball 59 times and completed 38 accurate passes out of 43 attempted – but there was very little else to his game. He completed just one dribble and his one and only shot was blocked.
The first half passed him by almost without incident, barring an unsuccessful attempt to win a penalty, and it didn’t get much better after the whistle. Early in the second half the ball was fired into his feet, back to goal, by a midfielder. A seasoned centre-forward would have trapped in, held off the defender on his back, recycled possession and moved up the pitch, or maybe won a free-kick for his team. Hazard, who is 5ft 7in, was easily muscled off the ball.
After 56 minutes he played a nice one-two on the edge of the box, but as he tried to cut inside onto his favoured right foot he was once again removed from the ball by the physical Mallorca defence.
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Ancelotti had seen enough. He summoned Luka Modric and Nacho from the bench and made his move in a double substitution. Hazard did not look surprised to be sacrificed.
Real won the game thanks to a stunning solo effort from Fede Valverde, who ran the length of the pitch and found the top corner, Vinicius, who coolly chipped the goalkeeper after a lovely change of direction, Rodrygo, who produced some silky footwork and precise finish late on and Antonio Rudiger, who volleyed in a late free-kick.
Hazard was given his chance to audition as a Benzema alternative, but the opportunity passed him by – much like every other that has come his way in the past three years in Madrid.
