Real Madrid News
Carrasco reveals the truth behind Eden Hazard’s Real Madrid struggles: ‘Sometimes you just can’t control it’
When Eden Hazard arrived at Real Madrid, expectations were sky-high.
He was supposed to be the next Galactico, a player capable of defining an era at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Instead, his time in Spain turned into one of football’s most unfortunate stories – a career derailed by relentless injuries.
At just 33, Hazard made the difficult decision to retire from professional football, a move that still feels premature given the level he once operated at.
His struggles at Real Madrid were well documented, but now, his international teammate Yannick Carrasco has offered a more personal insight into what really went wrong behind the scenes.
Carrasco explains the situation
Speaking in a recent interview, Carrasco did not hesitate to explain Hazard’s undeniable talent, insisting that ability was never the issue.
Instead, it was a cycle of injuries that simply refused to end.
“Eden Hazard is the best footballer I’ve played with outside of Atleti. He didn’t succeed at Real Madrid because of injuries.
“Sometimes you just can’t control it. You say, ‘How can it be that he’s got injury after injury after injury?’ and sometimes even you can’t explain it,” said the Belgian.
Going further into the issue, Carrasco explained how one specific problem triggered a chain reaction that affected the rest of Hazard’s body.
“He had an ankle problem that never got sorted out. You compensate for the pain and end up with a hamstring or quadriceps injury.
“You keep compensating, compensating, compensating, and he never managed to get out of that rut,” Carrasco concluded.
Hazard arrived at Real Madrid in 2019 for an extravagant fee of €100 million. However, during his four seasons, he could only play 76 matches, scoring seven goals.
Source: Mundo Deportivo
Real Madrid will be looking to pick up their fifth win of the 2026/27 La Liga season when they take on Elche CF at Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero later tonight.
With 12 points from five games, Los Blancos are currently second in the league table, three points below leaders FC Barcelona.
As such, the Spanish capital club will be eager to get the win and close the gap to the top.
Guler starts, Bellingham rested
Ahead of kickoff, Real Madrid have announced the starting lineup that will take the field against Elche, with Jose Mourinho making some important changes.
For starters, Arda Guler is back in the lineup after appearing as a substitute in the win over Rayo Vallecano.
Interestingly, however, he starts in the attacking midfield role, with Mourinho opting to rest Jude Bellingham, who has started all of Real Madrid’s games so far.
That also means that Yan Diomande retains his place in the team, starting for a second time in a row on the right wing. Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. continue in their respective positions in attack.
Another notable change sees Aurelien Tchouameni make his first start of the season after recovering from injury and making two appearances off the bench.
He replaces Bernardo Silva as Federico Valverde’s partner in the middle of the park.
Meanwhile, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Marc Cucurella come in as full-backs, while Ibrahima Konate and Dean Huijsen slot in at centre-back in front of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
📋✅ ¡Nuestro XI inicial!
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) September 15, 2026
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