Eden Hazard Says Real Madrid Can Still 'Dream of a Great Season'

Eden Hazard is hoping Real Madrid can still have a "great season" despite enduring a difficult start to the campaign. 

The Belgian spoke on Monday after he was named in the Men's FIFPro World XI side at The Best FIFA Football Awards.

Per Goal's Dejan Kalinic, he said:

"When you play for Real Madrid you have to win every game, that's how it is. That's why it's the best club in the world, because you always have that pressure.

"But we have a quality team. It was difficult, but we won at Sevilla, a stadium where it is never easy.

"In the Champions League, too, it's still important even if we lost our first game against Paris, but we can dream of a great season with the team we have."

Real have already shipped six goals in five La Liga matches this season, resulting in them being held to draws on two occasions.

In their most recent match, a 1-0 win over Sevilla, it was their first clean sheet since April and only the third of Zinedine Zidane's second spell in charge, in what was the 17th game.

In the UEFA Champions League, Los Blancos were beaten 3-0 by a Paris Saint-Germain side that did not contain Neymar, Kylian Mbappe or Edinson Cavani, and they did not even manage a shot on target (U.S. and UK only, respectively):

Football journalist and broadcaster Andy Scott felt the performance summed up the state of Real at the moment:

However, you'd still expect Madrid to qualify for the knockout phase from a group that also contains Galatasaray and Club Brugge.

Meanwhile, the win over Sevilla—which was Hazard's first 90 minutes since he joined the club from Chelsea in the summer—was an encouraging one.

Managing Madrid's Kiyan Sobhani praised the performance:

Despite their mixed start domestically, the win left Los Blancos second in La Liga. They're a point ahead of Atletico Madrid, who've failed to win their last two after starting the season with three consecutive wins, and four clear of Barcelona, who've already lost twice.

Significant improvement is needed at the Santiago Bernabeu, but they've got time to do so before the business end of the Champions League.

As for La Liga, with their biggest rivals enduring difficulties of their own, Real are in with a chance of winning what would only be their third title in 12 season.

Now that Hazard is up and running after missing the start of the campaign through injury, he can have a big impact on the club's fortunes on both fronts if he can find his best form.