Eden Hazard has reportedly been left bemused and angry by Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti overlooking him for selection.
The latest deterioration in the relationship between the two came on Thursday night when the Belgian did not play a minute of the side’s Copa del Rey defeat against Athletic Bilbao.
A late goal from Alex Berenguer secured a stunning victory for the Basque side at the quarter-final stage against a Madrid side who offered relatively little attacking threat throughout.
Ancelotti was without star striker Karim Benzema through injury and the Italian opted to select Marco, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes in attack.
That was despite the fact that both of the Brazilian forwards had played in a World Cup qualification match for their nation on a different continent less than 48 hours prior.
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Despite Real Madrid mustering just two shots on target throughout the match, Asensio and Rodrygo played the full 90 minutes.
Vinicius was taken off as a second half substitute but Isco was the player brought on by Ancelotti in his stead, with teenage midfielder Eduardo Camavinga the only other player introduced.
It was a clear snub from Ancelotti to the mass of attacking talent on the bench, with Hazard overlooked alongside Gareth Bale and Luka Jovic.
None of those three players – among the club’s most expensive ever signings - have featured prominently under the Italian this season, with all three likely to leave this year.
A report in Marca has outlined how Hazard has been left bemused by Ancelotti after he has gone 10 consecutive training matches for Real Madrid at full tilt and without any injury setbacks.
The report claims that the former Chelsea star had been led to believe that he had the trust and faith in Ancelotti, but now believes that is not the case.
Hazard has participated in 18 games this season, adding a total of 831 minutes – which is an average of 46 minutes per game.
Thursday night was the 15 th match of the campaign that Hazard was an unused substitute throughout, which has inevitably led to the player becoming frustrated.
He has been unused in the Spanish Supercopa matches this season along with the games against Barcelona and Atletico Madrid this campaign.
Despite starting the recent league draw at home to Elche, he has not been trusted in any of the crucial matches this season or brought on when his side have needed to change things up in attack.
Hazard’s time in the Spanish capital has been derailed by multiple injury problems since joining from a club record deal from Chelsea in 2019.
