{"id":1093926,"date":"2019-06-14T18:22:07","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T17:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1093926"},"modified":"2019-06-14T18:36:39","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T17:36:39","slug":"eden-hazard-real-madrid-unveiling-press-conference","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/eden-hazard-real-madrid-unveiling-press-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Five things learned from Eden Hazard’s Real Madrid unveiling"},"content":{"rendered":"

At long last, Eden Hazard is officially a Real Madrid player having been unveiled in front of over 50,000 supporters at the Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday evening.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In front of a raucous crowd, the Belgian star displayed the usual amount of tricks and flicks expected at a Los Blancos unveiling but, of course, his exploits over the years at Chelsea mean he has little to prove on the pitch.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7284737-it-s-time-to-talk-about-a-potential-bernard-or-silva<\/p>\n

But, as ever with Hazard, his frank, honest style meant for an interesting press conference, where he revealed his ambitions with Los Blancos and just what he aims to achieve at what he calls ‘the world’s best club’.<\/p>\n

So, what did we learn as Real Madrid signalled their intent to the rest of the footballing world with the unveiling of Hazard?<\/p>\n

1 Hazardfest
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Real Madrid unveiling a new player almost always draws a huge amount of fanfare and Hazard was no exception.<\/p>\n

The Belgian’s big moment drew a crowd of 50,000, the third-highest at the Bernabeu behind Kaka (55,000) and Cristiano Ronaldo (75,000) and the sixth-highest recorded in Europe overall.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/ByqREUMjnYE\/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet<\/p>\n

That 50,000-strong contingent even outstripped the attendance for four of Real’s home games last season, with matches against Getafe (48,364 fans), Huesca (49,293), Villarreal (46,294) and Real Betis (49,879) all drawing lower crowds.<\/p>\n

Largest crowds to see a player presented:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid): 75,000*<\/p>\n

2. Diego Maradona (Napoli): 65,000<\/p>\n

3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona): 60,000<\/p>\n

4. Neymar (Barcelona): 57,000<\/p>\n

5. Kak\u00e1 (Real Madrid): 55,000<\/p>\n

6. Eden Hazard\u00a0(Real Madrid)<\/strong>: 50,000<\/p>\n

7. Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid): 50,000<\/p>\n

8. Carlos Tevez (Boca Juniors): 45,000<\/p>\n

9. James Rodriguez (Real Madrid): 36,000<\/p>\n

10. David Villa (Barcelona): 35,000<\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong> AS.com<\/a><\/p>\n

* It has been reported elsewhere that 80,000 came to Cristiano Ronaldo’s unveiling. <\/em><\/p>\n

2. He won’t be wearing his favoured number 10 shirt<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With both Chelsea and Belgium, Hazard’s number 10 shirt has struck fear into opposition defenders and kept staff at club shops busy, day after day.<\/p>\n

At Real Madrid, however, he will have to sport a different number, such is the wealth of talent at the Bernabeu that Luka Modric already occupies the number 10.<\/p>\n

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“I’ve been lucky enough to speak to Modric through [Mateo] Kovacic. I asked him if he would let me have his number 10 as a joke and he said no,” he laughed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In truth, it is unlikely to bother Hazard, but he is going to have to get used to sitting in a pecking order now that he’s upgraded to such a huge club…<\/p>\n

3. He’ll have to answer to Sergio Ramos<\/strong><\/h2>\n

…which brings us nicely to penalties.<\/p>\n

Over the past three seasons, Hazard has taken nine penalties in the Premier League, scoring eight of them. Of course, you’ll also remember his conversion from the spot in Chelsea’s 4-1 demolition of Arsenal in the recent Europa League final. Keeping goalkeepers guessing and sending them the wrong way is firmly in his playbook.<\/p>\n

But in Sergio Ramos, Los Blancos already have an expert marksman from 12 yards, as well as an unyielding character who is unlikely to bow to anyone \u2013 even someone as illustrious as Hazard.<\/p>\n

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Hazard seems to have accepted his place as the ‘new lad’, but has opened an invitation to take spot kicks, should Ramos become bored of the whole affair.<\/p>\n

“There are a number of big players here, and I’m the new lad. The captain is good at taking penalties, but I’m happy to take them if asked” he said with a wry smile.<\/p>\n