ZINEDINE ZIDANE was forced to defend Eden Hazard once again after Real Madrid were dumped out of the Supercopa de Espana.
The Belgian produced another uninspiring performance in the 2-1 defeat by Athletic Bilbao and has scored just three goals in 18 months since signing from Chelsea in a deal that could exceed £150million.
Eden Hazard failed to produce his trademark magic on Thursday nightCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Zinedine Zidane defended his ailing star as Real Madrid exited the Supercopa de EspanaCredit: AP:Associated Press
And Thursday’s limp outing led to Madrid boss Zidane admitting that the winger was low on confidence.
The 48-year-old told reporters: “[Hazard] needs to recover confidence, play a great game or score a goal, just to do something different.
“We know what a great player he is and we need to be patient with him as he is working hard.
“We are behind him and we must give him time.
“The fans want to see the best version of Eden so we must be patient.
“We’re sticking with him and he really wants to step up. But today it wasn’t just Eden, we’re all in this together.”
The Spanish press were again critical of 30-year-old Hazard.
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The front page of Madrid-based daily Marca screamed ‘who roars first’ after Real’s timid exit.
Their report describes Marco Asensio as the only bright spot on a damaging night for Zidane.
AS added that Hazard is ‘going from bad to worse’ with Barcelona-based Mundo Deportivo pointing out that, statistically speaking, he didn’t attempt a single dribble of the ball.
French newspaper L’Equipe asked ‘when will we see Eden’s danger again?’ while Belgian publication HLN called it a ‘shame’ that he was ‘unrecognisable’.
Raul Garcia scored twice in the first-half to put Bilbao in command of the semi-final.
Karim Benzema replied with a close-range finish before the offside flag ruled out his late equaliser.
Athletic go on to play Barcelona in Sunday’s final in Spain’s version of the Community Shield, played out as a four-team competition in Malaga.
Watch Real Madrid stars including Eden Hazard have snowball fight in training as club confirm Osasuna game to go ahead
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
