Eden Hazard is reportedly “angry and annoyed” that Real Madrid have drawn Liverpool in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Jurgen Klopp’s side head to Spain on April 6 before a home match at Anfield on April 14. However, former Premier League star Hazard – who played for Chelsea between 2012-19 before making a €100million move to the Bernabeu – is set to miss out on the tie through injury.
DefensaCentral claim that the 30-year-old believes the clash with Liverpool who he considers a “special” rival from his time in England would have been the perfect stage for him to reignite his career with Los Blancos.
Despite clocking up almost 550 appearances for Lille and Chelsea before his arrival in La Liga, Hazard’s time in the Spanish capital so far has been marred by fitness problems.
He has turned out just 36 times for Real Madrid so far, netting four times, and his ongoing ankle problems – which look like keeping him out of the first leg at least – prompted a leading medic to declare he may “never play football again” only last week.
Dr Jose Gonzalez, who works for Real’s local rivals Atletico, has warned Hazard against having an operation on his ankle, having already gone under the knife twice.
Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane is expecting a tough clash against the Reds, saying: "It's going to be a demanding game. We know about them and they are going to demand more from us physically.
"We cannot say that it is a bad draw or a good one. Whatever happens throughout the season, Liverpool is a team that in a tie can play its card at any time. It is the same as us."
While club legend Roberto Carlos made a confident boast that harks back to the 2018 final: "[Mohamed] Salah is not even going to get close to Sergio [Ramos]. It will be an action that is going to be talked about a lot."
