Roberto Martinez Says Eden Hazard Will Play for Real Madrid Again Before Belgium

Belgium boss Roberto Martinez said Eden Hazard will play for Real Madrid again before the national team, and he expects the winger to be at UEFA Euro 2020. 

Martinez had previously put Hazard's recovery from a fractured ankle at three months, but he is confident Hazard will feature again for Los Blancos.

Per Marca's Jose Felix Diaz, he said:

"The recovery deadlines are impossible to determine because you have to see the operation and determine the deadlines from there.

"The first two weeks are important, but knowing Eden and how he's worked on other small injuries he has had, we are sure that we will have him with us [at Euro 2020].

"We'll see him in Real Madrid's shirt before the national team's shirt."

Hazard will undergo surgery on the injury in Dallas on Thursday, and Martinez said he is "very calm and very positive" ahead of the procedure.

HLN's Kristof Terreur gave further insight into Real's decision to send him to the U.S. for an operation:

The 29-year-old suffered the injury in Madrid's 1-0 defeat to Levante on February 22.

He had only just returned on February 16 from an ankle fracture he suffered in November, which kept him out for 16 games.

The Belgian was virtually always healthy during his time at Chelsea:

In total, he has made just 15 appearances in his debut season for Real Madrid. In that time, he has scored once and assisted five goals.

Reflecting on Real's 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester City in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie, Spanish football commentator Eduardo Alvarez noted their struggles in the final third in Hazard's absence:

If he's to feature again for Real in La Liga this season, he'll need to return before their final fixture on May 24. The Champions League final is on May 30, but making it there doesn't look likely after their clash with City.

As for Belgium, only Jan Vertonghen has more caps than Hazard's 106 and only Romelu Lukaku has more than his 32 goals.