Ancelotti reveals why Chelsea legend Hazard flopped at Real Madrid

Tom Weber

Updated: 3 Aug 2024 19:45 BST
3 min read

Injuries weren't the only problem that hampered Eden Hazard at Real Madrid, according to Carlo Ancelotti.

Article continues under the video

The Belgian has gone down in history as one of Real Madrid's biggest flop signings. Hazard arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu as a Chelsea legend and was made Los Blancos' record signing when they shelled out an eye-watering €120 million on him in 2019.

However, Hazard failed to have any kind of impact in the capital of Spain, looking a shadow of the player he was in England and France. Last summer, the winger was released aged 32, leaving Real Madrid with just 76 appearances, seven goals and 12 assists under his belt.

Injuries had taken their toll and, after a summer of rampant speculation surrounding his future, Hazard retired from football and has since insisted on numerous occasions that he doesn't miss the game.

During his playing days, the attacker was known as a player with a lax attitude towards training and staying in shape and Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has now revealed that this was one of the reasons why he failed in Spain.

Ancelotti on Hazard

Speaking on the podcast of Chelsea legend Mikel John Obi, Ancelotti revealed that Hazard's nightmare stint at Real Madrid as not purely down to injuries but also to the player not being used to having to fight for a place.

"Eden is a fantastic guy. He had a good relationship with everyone. [But] no, he didn't like training. We knew this. But listen, when you play every three days it's not important to train hard. You're not even capable of training at a high intensity."

"In fact, when you have to train hard, it's when you're not playing. I think the problem with Hazard was the injuries, of course, but also the fact that he struggled to compete. You have to train with high intensity when you're not playing."

"At Lille, he played always. In every game, he was in the starting eleven. Then he signed for Chelsea and played fantastic and then he came here and had injuries. When you're at Real Madrid and you have an injury, you have to come back and be competitive with the others."

"Because if you're not playing, there's someone else who is playing, so he struggled to compete, to fight to play."

Read more about: La Liga, Premier League, Chelsea, Real Madrid