Real Madrid have been handed a fitness boost as Eden Hazard looked in good shape on Wednesday while a return to group training has been touted.
The Belgian international has seen his debut campaign with the Spanish giants disrupted by injury, limiting him to just 15 appearances across all competitions.
Given his likely desire to make an immediate impact and help the club win more major trophies, that would undoubtedly have led to plenty of frustration and disappointment for the 29-year-old, but the suspension of the season could work in his favour.
After suffering a setback in February, Hazard has continued his recovery during the coronavirus pandemic and with the La Liga season pushed back and the intention remaining to complete the campaign for now, he may have a chance of featuring to give Zinedine Zidane’s side a big lift.
As reported by Mundo Deportivo, he has already handed the Real Madrid boss a major boost in that he has stayed in shape during the lockdown, as his appearance on Wednesday at the training ground would suggest, thus giving the impression that he’s ready to hit the ground running when the green light is given for players to resume training in the coming weeks.
However, perhaps the actual fitness boost comes through another point made in the report, as it’s suggested that if not in the first week of training, the Belgian ace is expected to join the rest of the group in the second week as he looks to complete his recovery and get back to action.
That said, given the setback last time out and the amount of football that he has missed so far this season, Real Madrid will no doubt have to be cautious with him as they will want to avoid seeing him sidelined again.
As they sit two points adrift of rivals Barcelona at the top of the La Liga table with 11 games to go, and with a deficit to overturn against Manchester City in their round-of-16 Champions League tie, there is a lot still on the line for Zidane and his men and having Hazard back would be a huge boost for them.