Breaking Down the Battle Between Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale

There’s a certain fascination with wingers in football. So many of the game’s greats have found themselves hugging the touchline, dribbling past defenders and slinging crosses into the box. Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard could be next to add their names to an illustrious list.

If Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the sport’s top tier, as they have shown themselves to be over the past five years or so, then Bale and Hazard are part of the chasing pack aspiring to their level.

And the two players will clash in a crucial Euro 2016 qualifier on Sunday, with Belgium and Wales both hoping that their brightest and best talents can lead them to France in two years' time.

Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Associated Press

But how do Bale and Hazard measure up exactly? Can one claim to be better than the other right now? Are they the vanguard of football’s glittering next generation?

In terms of tangible success, measured by trophies, Bale outweighs his Belgian counterpart at this moment, with the Welshman playing a key part in Real Madrid’s Champions League "La Decima" triumph last season.

Hazard is yet to taste major competition success with Chelsea, with the exception of the 2012-13 Europa League, although that shouldn’t necessarily diminish his standing alongside someone like Bale.

At Real Madrid, Bale is something of a supporting act to Ronaldo’s main billing. He is able to call on the talents of some of Europe’s best players to back him up should he perform below his best.

While Chelsea might be Premier League champions-elect, Hazard doesn’t quite have the same luxury. When he doesn’t play well, it’s obvious. That’s how important he is to Jose Mourinho’s side.

Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

Bale and Hazard might occupy the same area of the pitch, but there are differences in their innate style and physical attributes as players.

Hazard cannot be classified as your archetypal winger. He might start games on the flanks, but more often than not he is likely found in a more central position, cutting inside at almost every opportunity. It’s this instinct that gives him a greater goal threat than most flaky wingers.

From a tactical perspective Hazard has improved as a player since the second coming of Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge. Of course, it is his unpredictable, uncontainable streak that, even if it is to the exasperation of Mourinho, makes Hazard the player he is. He is Chelsea’s wild card. 

In contrast, Bale has become something of a Ronaldo-lite. The fact that both players call the Santiago Bernabeu home only lends itself to the comparison between the two, but it is true that there are parallels between the progression both players have undergone over the course of their respective careers.

Having become the most expensive football player in history with an £85.3 million move to Real Madrid last year, Bale is perhaps as close to the top tier of Ronaldo and Messi as anyone else, but he does have two years on Hazard, who is still only 23.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

“I know there are people saying I can develop in the same way Ronaldo did,” explained Bale, speaking of his own progression as a player, per David Kent of the Daily Mail. “He and Lionel Messi have set the bar where everyone wants to be. If people are thinking I can emulate whoever, then that’s their opinion.”

That is the standard Bale is held to by those who see him as football’s next bona fide superstar. And given the manner with which he has developed as a player to this point, such a prediction is already some way to fruition.

“I’m not a top-five player yet,” Hazard admitted last month, as per Matt Law of the Telegraph. “Who’s better than me? The two extra-terrestrials, Ronaldo and Messi, Ibrahimovic, Ribery and Robben. They make the difference almost every game.”

The absence of Bale from Hazard’s elite list is notable, and might even fuel the Welshman ahead of his clash with the Chelsea winger on Sunday. Belgium’s clash with Wales will be pivotal in deciding which teams will qualify for Euro 2016, but more pertinently, it could decide who is better right now: Bale or Hazard?