“I Love Beers” – Eden Hazard Reveals Why He Flopped At Madrid

Eden Hazard has spoken up about his weight issues while playing for Chelsea and Real Madrid, where he failed to meet expectations while carrying a £100 million price tag.

In an episode of Mikel’s Obi One podcast, Belgian winger Eden Hazard, 33, discussed some of his weight and fitness issues following his move from Chelsea to Real Madrid in 2019.

Hazard resigned from the game in October after only 76 appearances in four seasons for Madrid due to physical and form issues, admitting that he retired because he ‘wasn’t having fun on the pitch’ after being released by the club.

In response to rumours that following his Real Madrid signing, he had shown up for preseason in poor shape, he claimed: “It was true,” Hazard said, “But me, every summer I was putting on four or five kilos because I was thinking you give so much for 10 months, you put your body at the highest level and people kick you, so your time off is your time off.”

He claimed to be so sluggish at times that he didn’t want the ball in training and didn’t want to be bothered with workouts when on vacation.

“Don’t ask me to do anything. I enjoy being with my family and going to the beach, so don’t ask me to run in those three or four weeks. I can play football on the beach with my kids, no problem, but don’t ask me to run.

Read Also: ‘I don’t miss playing football’ – Eden Hazard

“But if you look throughout my career, the first month [of the season] is the bit where I was thinking it’s just the beginning, and then from September and October I was flying, because I needed time to put my body and mind in the best way.

“So yes, it’s true, I came back after holidays with five kilos, I knew it.

“I love everything with family and friends. If you ask me to eat something I’m going to eat. Even if I don’t like it I’m going to eat!

“As a Belgian guy, we love beers because my country has the best beers in the world, so I’m not telling you I used to drink every day because it’s not true, but sometimes after a good game, one or two is nice.”

Despite admitting that he arrived at Real Madrid overweight, Hazard believed he couldn’t have done much more to better his time there, and opened up about why things went so wrong from the outset.

When asked what he could have done differently to hit the ground running in Madrid, Hazard responded: “I don’t think so. I think I was a bit unlucky with that period with COVID-19 because if you want to know the real story, I went to Dallas to do surgery on my ankle then I came back to Madrid and it was COVID-19.

“I had two to two-and-a-half months of Covid, me at home alone, no physio to do the rehab. I did my rehab alone. If I had to choose one thing to change I should have said to the doctor “Bring a physio, I need a good rehab”. I have to do [it] because I want to play at the highest level.

“And then when the Covid finished, we came back on the pitch, I pushed my body like crazy but my ankle was not the same and then I broke everything the season after and then you know the story.

“If you want me to change one thing it’s called the physio “Come home, I know it’s Covid but please come home, I need rehab”. And things could be different at that time.”

Eden Hazard was pressed on whether Madrid might have provided more assistance with his comeback, but he backed his former club.

“At that time people were not allowed to on the street or to go to their job, and I didn’t push the physio or the doctor to “Oh come on, I need someone”. For me, my rehab I did a few exercises, a few things alone. For me it was enough, I didn’t think that I had to do more.

“At the beginning, I didn’t think I needed to do more. After two months I thought “Oh yeah, I should do more”, but in the beginning I was OK, I did my thing, I went outside running a bit, I did some exercise and it was not that bad, but then I cam back on the pitch and I felt it.”

When asked if he realised he was in trouble right away after getting back into play, Hazard replied, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. After that period with Covid, we came back on the pitch and we had like two months to play until the end of the season.

“And we were that close to being champions so I was saying to Zidane “I want to push, I want to go” and then the day we finished champions I said “No, I can’t do any more, I’m finished”. My body is suffering a lot so I need to do a proper rehab, but it was already the end of the season.”

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli