Zidane not worried injury-prone Hazard will turn out like Bale
RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT
VIDEO SHOWS: REAL MADRID SQUAD TRAINING AHEAD OF LA LIGA MATCH AGAINST LEVANTE, REAL MADRID COACH ZINEDINE ZIDANE HOLDING NEWS CONFERENCE
SHOWS: MADRID, SPAIN (OCTOBER 3, 2020) (REAL MADRID TV HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL)
1. REAL MADRID PLAYERS DURING TRAINING SESSION
2. REAL MADRID FORWARD, KARIM BENZEMA KICKING THE BALL AND SCORING GOAL
3. REAL MADRID CAPTAIN, SERGIO RAMOS KICKING THE BALL AND SCORING GOAL
4. REAL MADRID PLAYER KICKING THE BALL, GOALKEEPER THIBAUT COURTOIS CLEARING THE BALL
5. REAL MADRID DEFENDER, FERLAND MENDY KICKING THE BALL AND SCORING GOAL
6. REAL MADRID COACH, ZINEDINE ZIDANE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS DURING TRAINING SESSION
7. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REAL MADRID COACH, ZINEDINE ZIDANE, SAYING:
"I'm positive about everything, even with Hazard, it's a muscle injury from working too hard to come back. I'm not worried, the important thing is that his injury is fine and hopefully it will stay that way."
8. PLAYERS PASSING BALL DURING TRAINING SESSION
9. REAL MADRID FORWARD, LUKA JOVIC SCORING GOAL WITH HIS HEAD
10. REAL MADRID PLAYER KICKING BALL
11. REAL MADRID MIDFIELDER, CASEMIRO KICKING THE BALL AND SCORING GOAL
12. REAL MADRID MIDFIELDER, ISCO KICKING THE BALL AND SCORING GOAL
13. BENZEMA SHOOTING
14. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REAL MADRID COACH, ZINEDINE ZIDANE, SAYING:
"I don't see things as being very negative even if they do get complicated. We don't like having injured players but we have to accept that. We are not going to look for excuses."
15. VARIOUS OF TRAINING SESSION IN PROGRESS
16. REAL MADRID DEFENDER, NACHO KICKING THE BALL
17. REAL MADRID PLAYER KICKING THE BALL
18. REAL MADRID DEFENDER, MARCELO KICKING THE BALL, COURTOIS CLEARING THE SHOT
19. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REAL MADRID COACH ZINEDINE ZIDANE SAYING:
"We don't control that (criticism), what we can control is being united, strong and in times of difficulty to be more united, that's what we're going to do. Last year, two years ago, three years ago, five years ago, 10 years ago, the same thing always happens here. There is not much change, every time there is a bit of difficulty in our game, when they score a goal, there is a lot of talk here."
20. REAL MADRID PLAYER KICKING BALL
21. TRAINING SESSION IN PROGRESS
22. REAL MADRID MIDFIELDER, LUKA MODRIC DURING TRAINING SESSION
23. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS DURING TRAINING SESSION
24. REAL MADRID PLAYER KICKING THE BALL
25. BENZEMA KICKING THE BALL
26. MARCELO KICKING THE BALL
27. NACHO KICKING THE BALL
28. CASEMIRO KICKING THE BALL,
29. REAL MADRID MIDFIELDER, LUCAS VAZQUEZ KICKING THE BALL AND SCORING THE GOAL
30. VAZQUEZ SMILING
STORY: Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane insisted on Saturday (October 3) he is not concerned that Eden Hazard will be dogged by injuries in the same way that Gareth Bale was in his spell with the club, after the Belgian was ruled out for up to four weeks.
Hazard started pre-season training later than the rest of his team mates due to fitness problems and was expected to make his return in Wednesday's (September 30) match with Real Valladolid but injured a muscle in his right leg on the day of the game.
The Belgium international had two serious ankle injuries last season, one of which required surgery, and was only able to make 14 La Liga starts in his first season since joining Real from Chelsea for a joint club record fee of 100 million euros.
There are a number of parallels between Hazard and Bale, who signed for Real for 100 million euros in 2013 and was frequently haunted by injuries, in particular muscle strains, after having ankle surgery in 2016.
But Zidane does not think Hazard will turn out like Bale, who returned to Tottenham Hotspur last month on a season-long loan.
"No, I'm not worried, I'm positive and I'm positive about Hazard, this is a muscle injury that came about from working very hard to try and get back," Zidane said ahead of Real's trip to Levante.
Hazard was one of four Madrid players to fall injured this week, with Isco straining a muscle on Monday (September 28).
Defender Dani Carvajal was ruled out for two months with a knee injury on Friday (October 2) while his deputy Alvaro Odriozola has strained a muscle.
With no natural right backs available for the game at Levante, Zidane will be forced to call upon Nacho Fernandez, who made only four league starts last season.
The Frenchman, however, said he was not worried about the spate of injuries.
"I feel bad for the players who have gotten injured but we're going to keep going with the rest of the players who are available," he said.
(Production: Elena Rodriguez)
