Zidane makes one request after Hazard's return for Madrid

After a month out injured, Eden Hazard made his return for Real Madrid in their 1-1 draw against Elche on Wednesday night.

Zinedine Zidane has called for calm and patience with Eden Hazard after the Belgian made his return from injury against Elche.

The 28-year-old has seen his time at the club blighted by injuries and he suffered his latest setback on November 28 when he pulled out of the Alaves game with a thigh strain.

Hazard missed a month of action and was an unused substitute in his return to Madrid’s match-day squad last week against Granada.

However, he finally made his return against Elche and was brought on for the final 13 minutes in the 1-1 draw on Wednesday night.

Speaking after the game, Zidane addressed the status of Hazard as well as Martin Odegaard who was an unused substitute in the game.

“We made three changes tonight and Martin wasn’t involved, but there’s no issue there,” Zidane said to the club’s website.

“Hazard returned tonight, but he needs time and games under his belt. It’s a case of taking it step by step,” he added.

Zidane felt the key to the match was his side’s failure to find a second goal in the first half.

💬 Zidane: "We had chances and all that was missing was the second goal."#HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/LxUpInOKm6
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) December 30, 2020

“We created a number of chances in the first half to have got that second goal, which would have allowed us to be more relaxed, but when they got the equaliser, everything became that bit more difficult for us,” Zidane said.

“They dropped deeper and we struggled in the second half. That’s just the way things go in football and we’ve got to keep going. If you look at the first half, it’s a case of two points dropped, but we have to keep on working hard.”

“Everyone’s going to end up dropping points. This is a very tough league. We had produced a number of good performances coming into tonight’s match and we’ve dropped two points here, but we have to keep on doing what we’re doing because it’s a very long league season and there’s a long way to go.”