Embarrassed Bale and Hazard not good enough for Real Madrid's second XI

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:55 CDT
• 4 min read

This week, FootballTransfers took a deep dive into the playing squads of elite European clubs to determine which had the strongest second-string XI.

One of these clubs was Real Madrid.

Los Blancos are famed for a high turnover of players and you can usually count on the squad at Santiago Bernabeu being packed full of global superstars.

Unfortunately for two of those global superstars, we determined that they are not even second choice in their respective positions at Real Madrid.

Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard, two of the most expensive players in football history, are languishing on the periphery of Carlo Ancelotti's squad.

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If we consider Bale to be a right-winger, then Marco Asensio and Rodrygo are ahead of him in the pecking order, while Federico Valverde played a hybrid role in that position in the recent Champions League fixtures versus Chelsea.

Rodrygo can also plat on the left, which is bad news for Hazard, who is already behind Vinicius Junior.

Any three of Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, Asensio or Valverde are always likely to be selected ahead of Bale and Hazard.

Bale will leave at the expiration of his current contract in June, while there are major doubts over Hazard's future at the club, which will only become more uncertain when Kylian Mbappe arrives from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.

What has happened to Bale?

Bale became the most expensive player in history at the time when he joined Los Blancos from Tottenham for £100 million in 2013.

He has gone on to enjoy huge success in the Spanish capital, winning two La Liga titles, one Copa del Rey, and no less than four Champions League titles.

Bale also scored crucial goals in two of the finals in those Champions League victories.

Over the last two years, however, has stock has dramatically fell at Real Madrid.

After falling out with Zinedine Zidane, he returned to Tottenham on loan, only to return a year later.

Whether it be due to more injuries or more poor form, Bale hasn't flourished since his return to Madrid and has started just four league games in 2021/22.

What has happened to Hazard?

Hazard might have played his last game for Real Madrid after undergoing ankle surgery.

In a short statement released on their official website, Madrid explained:

"In the coming days, our player, Eden Hazard, will undergo surgery to remove the osteosynthesis plate in his right fibula."

And, not only does he face that race against time to finish the season, he must face the fact that if he doesn't return in the 2021/22 campaign, he might not don the famous white shirt of Real Madrid again.

That is because Hazard has been a disaster since his record €100 million transfer from Chelsea in 2019 and is widely expected to be moved on at the conclusion of the current campaign.

He has a shocking injury record since moving, making just 28 starts in La Liga in almost three years.

Hazard has scored just six goals in all competitions, too, and when you consider that Madrid could end up paying as much as €140m for his services, that worked out to a cost of €23m per goal scored, while he has cost €17.5m per assist.