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REAL MADRID

Hazard: "I don't see the criticism"

Eden Hazard has laughed off his critics in an interview with La Dernière Heure, denying suggestions that he has had a difficult start to life at Real Madrid.

Soccer Football - La Liga Santander - Real Madrid v Granada - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - October 5, 2019  Real Madrid's Eden Hazard celebrates scoring their second goal   REUTERS/Javier Barbancho     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
JAVIER BARBANCHOREUTERS

Eden Hazard has admitted that he hasn’t read the criticism about his lacklustre start to his Real Madrid career.

Early question marks have hung over the Belgian winger amid his struggle to find his best form since making the switch from Chelsea in the summer. But after failing to provide a goal or assist in his first five games for Madrid, he managed to do both in the 4-2 win against Granada before the international break, scoring one and setting up another.

While Zinedine Zidane has played down the criticism towards Hazard, stating the club's new signing needs time to adapt, the player himself also laughed off the critics in an interview with Belgian outlet La Dernière Heure, denying suggestions that he has had a difficult start to life at the Bernabéu.

Eden Hazard and Sergio Ramos.
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Eden Hazard and Sergio Ramos.PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOUAFP

Hazard on start at Real Madrid

“No, I have not lived through difficult weeks at Madrid,” said the 28-year-old.

“I know we talk a lot about Real everywhere, that's why I'm here, but I still do not understand Spanish well. I don’t see the criticism.”

Hazard’s last performance against Granada will have gone some way in answering the critics and the 28-year-old striker will hope to have a similar impact in Madrid’s upcoming games against Mallorca, Galatasaray and Barcelona.

Eden Hazard trainin with his Belgium team mates during international duty last week.
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Eden Hazard trainin with his Belgium team mates during international duty last week.Bruno Fahy/BELGA/dpa

Wenger: Madrid haven’t discovered the real Hazard

Last week, his former Premier League adversary, ex-Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, assured that Hazard would eventually come good after his 100-million-euro summer switch, while also claiming the ex-Chelsea man would never be able to fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo.

"He will be the answer but not in replacing Ronaldo that is for sure- He will not score 50 goals a year because that's now how they play football,” Wenger told beIN Sports.

"They need another goal scorer in Real Madrid because Benzema is now 32 and if they had someone younger around him to score the goals, maybe they could do very well. Eden Hazard is an exceptional player to create chances to sometimes finish when he needs to do in big games.

"He's not scared of anybody - I don't think Real have yet to see the real Hazard, he's not as sharp physically as he can be. That's why I believe they will discover the real Hazard."