Lifelines for Hazard and Suarez in La Liga title race
BARCELONA AND REAL MADRID READY TO SLUG IT OUT ONCE AGAIN
Sports Editor
He [Suarez] is better than we expected. But the question is how ready he is after so long out.” Quique Setien » Barcelona coach
We have 11 matches left and we are going to prepare ourselves to finish season well, strongly.” Zinedine Zidane » Real Madrid coach
The dust should long have settled on the 2019-20 La Liga title race — and two names who should not have been in the reckoning as kingmakers were Luis Suarez and Eden Hazard. When La Liga stopped they were not expected to play any part in the rest of the title tussle between Barcelona and Real Madrid but when the season resumes today, Hazard and Suarez could be set to decide it.
Hazard was looking beyond Real to the Euros after undergoing surgery on his right foot in March while some felt Suarez had played his last game for Barcelona after having a knee operation in January.
Instead, both have been thrown a lifeline, Suarez to preserve his career at Barca and Hazard to kick-start his with Madrid.
After Real Madrid paid €100 million (Dh416.9 million) to sign him from Chelsea last year, fans sprinted outside the Santiago Bernabeu to beat the queues for Hazard’s unveiling, and around 50,000 made it inside.
However, questions were soon being asked about his weight in pre-season, and he has struggled with injury all season. Every time he has come back, Hazard has needed time to find form, initially lacking that burst of speed and change of direction that at his best, can leave a defender for dead.
But reports from Valdebebas have been positive, with Thibaut Courtois saying on Sunday he had been surprised by the Belgian’s “rhythm” before adding a note of caution. “We can’t expect him to be on top form without playing,” he said.
Big void to fill
Barca coach Quique Setien has been similarly circumspect over Suarez, who is also not renowned for quick returns to sharpness after time away.
Despite winning the Clasico on March 1, Madrid were in a slump before the hiatus, that 2-0 victory over Barcelona their only win in five games. They lost the defensive steel that saw them go 21 matches unbeaten either side of Christmas and a familiar bluntness, from Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure, remains.
Hazard was supposed to help fill the creative void but 11 games over five and a half weeks offers no room for rustiness and, unlike Suarez, this is still a new team to him. Fifteen appearances in 10 months hardly breeds familiarity.
Barca, meanwhile, need bodies as they have only 19 fit senior players, which leaves them surprisingly ill-equipped to capitalise on two extra substitutes. But Suarez brings experience
and quality, not to mention the best out of Lionel Messi.
In full flow, Messi could see off Real Madrid but the Argentinian has had his own injury problems this season, the latest a minor thigh complaint that led to him missing three training sessions last week.
Barcelona have a two-point advantage and the marginally more favourable fixtures, particularly as the usually heated atmospheres at Sevilla and Alaves will be negated by empty stands.
Madrid have Marco Asensio fit again while Gareth Bale has been the fittest of anyone in training. Zinedine Zidane’s knack for winning knockout tournaments might even be well-suited to a 39-day sprint finish.
Zidane was close to the sack in September but almost a year later, only one thing is certain. Nothing is the same.