Eden Hazard expressed his thoughts on who is the greatest football player, between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Some people thought Hazard was the world’s third-best player, after Messi and Ronaldo. He played for Chelsea before moving to Real Madrid for a large sum of money in 2019, however he did not perform as well as predicted owing to injuries, netting only seven goals in 76 games throughout four seasons.
Eden Hazard on Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo
Eden Hazard said he’s a more talented footballer than Cristiano Ronaldo but believes Lionel Messi is the only one better than him. Hazard praised Messi as the greatest of all time. In an interview with L’Equipe, Hazard mentioned that while Ronaldo is a bigger player, he doesn’t consider him more talented than himself.
“Individually, Messi is perhaps the only one. I loved watching the Barcelona player, less so at the end, but he’s the greatest in history. It’s impossible to take the ball away from him. Cristiano is a bigger player than me but, in terms of pure football, I honestly don’t think so. Neymar, maybe,” Hazard said.
“After that, he’s no better than me, but at Real, you’ve got the best, also in terms of their careers: Benzema, Modric, they were the best, Kroos, Kev’ (De Bruyne), they all exude football,” he added.
🚨🗣️ Eden Hazard: "Cristiano is a greater player than me but, in terms of pure football, honestly, I don't think so."
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Eden Hazard got Cristiano Ronaldo’s #7 jersey at Real Madrid in 2019. Unfortunately, he couldn’t play as well due to injuries, and he only scored seven goals and made 12 assists in 76 games during his four seasons with Los Blancos.
Real Madrid brought in Eden Hazard to replace Cristiano Ronaldo, but the Belgian couldn’t match up to the Portuguese star. He said injuries affected him, leading to an uneventful end to his career at Real Madrid.
“I would have liked to do things my way and succeed. This shows that Madrid is bigger than anything else. It’s difficult to play there. Maybe I needed to train more. I also had the worst injuries in the worst moments. The operation, the plate… I’m coming back, it hurts, I’m sore. In the second season, Ancelotti arrives. I had good preparation, I play well, but my body, the pain, the injuries…” he said.
Real Madrid and Eden Hazard both agreed to end their contract after the 2022/23 season. After that, Eden Hazard announced that he was retiring from football.
