The Belgian international overcame his latest injury to play his first minutes for the Blancos since November
Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane has called for patience after Eden Hazard returned from injury against Elche on Wednesday.
Hazard’s time in Madrid has been marred by injuries and he suffered his most recent loss on November 28, when he was dragged from a sideline game against Alaves by thigh pressure.
The Belgian missed a month of activity and was an unused substitute when he returned to Madrid’s mother squad last week against Granada.
Hazard saw the field Wednesday, coming on for the final 13 minutes of his side’s 1-1 draw.
In his post-match press conference Zidane addressed Hazard status as well as Martin Odegaard, who was an unused substitute against Elche and had not seen the field since Dec. 1 due to a variety of injuries. and the decision of his coach.
“We made three changes tonight and Martin was not involved, but there is no issue,” Zidane said of the Norwegian international.
“Hazard returned tonight, but he needs time and games under his belt. It’s a matter of taking it step by step,” he said.
Luka Modric opened the scoring on 20 minutes against Elche, but Madrid were crushed back early in the second half by a Fidel penalty.
Zidane felt that the key to the game was that his side failed to find the second goal in the first half, as Madrid ‘s five games stoppage in La Liga came to a halt.
“We created a number of chances in the first half to get that second goal, which would have allowed us to be more relaxed, but once they got the balance, everything became a little more difficult for us,” Zidane said. .
“They fell deeper and we struggled in the second half. That’s just the way things are in football and we have to keep going. If you look at the first half, it’s a case of two points. let down, but we have to keep working hard.
“Everybody’s going to drop points. This is a very difficult league. We had some good performances coming into the game tonight and we have dropped two points here, but we have to keep doing what we are doing because it is league season It is a long way and there is a long way to go. “
The draw saw Madrid fall two points behind Atletico Madrid, who won earlier on Wednesday to extend their lead at the top of the La Liga table. Diego Simeone’s side also has two games for their city rivals.