Real Madrid have confirmed that Eden Hazard has suffered psoas muscle injury which reports say could rule him out for 4-6 weeks.
Hazard made a 15-minute return to action at the weekend—his first football since January.
According to the Real Madrid website, the club will continue to assess the Belgian captain’s situation.
“Following tests carried out today on our player, Eden Hazard, by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a muscle injury in the right psoas.”
“His recovery will continue to be assessed,” the club said in a terse message on its website.
Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane said he “can’t explain” Eden Hazard’s latest injury setback but admitted “something is going on” after the forward was ruled out of Real Madrid’s Champions League round-of-16 second leg clash with Atalanta.
Hazard had made yet another return from injury on Saturday, coming off the bench in the 75th minute of Madrid’s 2-1 La Liga win over Elche, but missed training on Monday.
“He won’t be in a condition to be with us,” Zidane said at a news conference ahead of Tuesday’s game. “I can’t say more. There are things I can’t explain… I hope, because I’m always positive, that it isn’t too much.”
“Something is going on. He’s a player who had never been injured in his career, or not many times. It’s new for him. I can’t explain more. We want him to be well, we want to help, and I hope he’ll be with us again soon.”
The Belgium international has been beset with injury problems since signing for Madrid from Chelsea in the summer of 2019. He suffered two ankle fractures in his first season — which Hazard called “the worst of my career” — making just 16 league appearances and scoring one goal.
This campaign he has played in nine league games, being absent with another ankle injury, a hamstring strain and a thigh problem, as well as testing positive for COVID-19.
“The fans will have to wait,” Zidane added. “We know the player he is. We want to see Eden Hazard play — the club, the players, the coach, the staff — but right now he can’t do what he wants to do. We’ll be patient.”
Zidane also denied that Real Madrid’s medical staff are to blame for the team’s injury issues, calling them “very competent.”
“Eden hasn’t had a lot of luck since he arrived here,” teammate Karim Benzema said at the news conference. “It makes me a bit sad for him because everyone knows Eden is a top player. He wants to show that he’s a star. We’re here to help.”
Benzema also refused to speculate about a return to Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo — saying “I can’t say if I’ll come here, I’m not the coach or the president” — and was asked about reports linking Erling Haaland with a move to the Bernabeu.
“How can I talk about a player who isn’t at the club?” he said.
“I’ve been here for a lot of years. Every month they talk about other forwards. What I’ll say is he’s a good, young player who scores a lot of goals for [Borussia Dortmund]. He has to work more for his team and if one day he has the chance to come to Madrid, let him come here.”
