It’s nearly time for the big La Liga clash between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. Eden Hazard did an interview before the game and identified the team’s mentality as the most important aspect heading into the derby.
What did he say?
This will be Hazard’s first big derby since he joined Los Blancos earlier in the 2019 summer transfer window.
The former Blue has struggled with injuries at the very start of his Real Madrid career so he’s still somehow trying to find his groove at the capital.
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So far, however, he has tallied three appearances for the Galacticos across all competitions and a total of two in La Liga specifically. Zinedine Zidane decided to rest his Belgian bomber in Real Madrid’s last bout with Osasuna and since the Whites won that game 2-0, it seems to have been the right call by the Frenchman.
Now, Hazard appears likely to return to start in the derby against Atletico Madrid and the 28-year-old has identified the team’s mentality as key going into that huge clash.
Here’s what he said when asked what’s going to be key for the game:
“Your mentality. In a derby that’s key and what’s even more important is your desire. When you’re a football player, you know what derbies are like. You know what you have to do, you just have to win; you don’t need your teammates to tell you that”.
Peace of mind
Interestingly enough, Hazard is not the first one to bring up the question of mentality into the fold.
Zinedine Zidane has been calling for the team to stay calm and think, while Florentino Perez recently talked at length about how success made Real Madrid lose their intensity. Of course, there’s a physical aspect to that too, but the relentlessness he’s talking about stems from mindset.
So it’s safe to say that Hazard has absolutely nailed the one key aspect his team will have to keep in mind for the derby.
Of course, most of it will be decided on the pitch but there’s also going to be a battle raging in their heads. The squad that can stay collected while still showing enough desire and hunger just might take it all.
Let’s see if Real Madrid can be the ones to do that.