Capello: Under-pressure Eden a Real flop at the Bernabeu
FABIO CAPELLO says Eden Hazard has struggled to deal with the weight of the Real Madrid shirt following his high-profile move from Chelsea.
Hazard joined the Spanish club from Chelsea on a fiveyear contract for in a 100million euros (£88.5m) deal ahead of this season.
The Belgium international inspired Chelsea to two Premier League trophies during his time at Stamford Bridge.
But has failed to hit similar heights in Spain, with injuries limiting him to 21 appearances in all competitions this season – even though Real were still crowned champions.
Capello (right), the former
England coach who led Real to two La Liga titles, said: “He hasn’t been the player he was at Chelsea and was injured for a long time, he hasn’t adapted.
“I’ve always thought of him as a great player but the Real shirt weighs heavily and Hazard has sunk this year. It’s clear that he’ll be better next season.”
With Hazard struggling, the onus was on Karim
Benzema to shoulder the goalscoring responsibilities and the French striker enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career, with 21 league goals and firing Real to a recordextending 34th La Liga crown.
They finished the season on 87 points, five ahead of Barcelona and 17 in front of Atletico Madrid. Capello said of Benzema: “He’s become a benchmark for Real. He has taken on responsibility that he didn’t have when he played with Cristiano Ronaldo. He has a nose for goal and he’s shown it.”
In Italy, former Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku took his Serie A goal tally to 23 in his first season there as Inter Milan won 3-0 at Genoa.
Lukaku put Milan back into second place behind Juventus as headed them into a 34th-minute lead before Alexis Sanchez made sure of the points when he got on the end of a cross from Victor Moses.
Lukaku wrapped it up in stoppage time when he curled a shot home.
Napoli beat Sassuolo 2-0 in a match that saw the visitors have four goals ruled out for offside by VAR on Saturday.
Elseid Hysaj put Napoli ahead early on, before Filip Duricic twice had goals chalked off and technology also denied Francesco Caputo and Domenico Berardi. Allan secured the points for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.
Dejan Kulusevski’s winner nine minutes from time earned Parma a 2-1 victory over Brescia. ☐Anton Hudaev, the Ukrainian national team’s doctor, has died from the coronavirus aged 48. The virus has killed more than 1,600 people in Ukraine, which has reported nearly 65,000 infections.