Eden Hazard’s farewell message after leaving Chelsea for Real Madrid in 2019 has gone viral again – with Blues’ fans convinced that the Belgian winger has ‘cursed’ their club.
Hazard was widely considered to be one of the best players on the planet when he departed Stamford Bridge for the Bernabeu in a £130 million deal, but has never managed to get his career on track in the Spanish capital.
The 32-year-old has won plenty of silverware during his time with Los Blancos. However, struggles with both form and fitness have meant that he’s played only 73 times in four years at the club, scoring just seven goals.
Having already won two La Liga titles, the Spanish Super Cup and last season’s Champions League with Real, Hazard could add to his trophy haul before the current campaign is over.
Earlier this week, Carlo Ancelotti’s men advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2022/23 Champions League with a comprehensive 6-2 aggregate victory over Liverpool in the last-16 of the competition.
Real will face Premier League opposition once again in the next round after being drawn against Chelsea.
The tie will mark the third time in the past three seasons that the two clubs have been drawn together in the competition – and some Chelsea fans are placing the blame for that firmly at Hazard’s door.
Why do Chelsea fans think Eden Hazard has ‘cursed’ the club?
When he left west London in July 2019, Hazard penned a heartfelt farewell message to Chelsea supporters, in which he wrote: “Chelsea and Chelsea fans will always be special to me and next season I will look for your results first.
“I hope that we are drawn against each other in the Champions League next season and every season after that.”
Well, Hazard didn’t get his wish in his first season at the Bernabeu, but the two sides haven’t been able to avoid each other since.
Chelsea drew first blood when they dumped Real out at the semi-final stage in 2020/21, en route to winning that season’s competition.
The 35-time La Liga champions had their revenge last season, when they got the better of Chelsea in the quarter-finals before ultimately lifting the coveted trophy.
Following Friday’s draw, we know that the pair will meet again in the last eight of this year’s tournament. Ironically, Chelsea and Real had never met in the Champions League until Hazard mentioned the possibility in his goodbye message.
Although Graham Potter’s team were always likely to have to beat the very best in Europe if they want to win this season’s competition, Chelsea fans would clearly have preferred an easier quarter-final draw and jokingly made their feelings known when Hazard’s social media post resurfaced after the tie was confirmed.
We’ve included the best of their reaction to the ‘curse’ below:
Hazard has made just three appearances in the Champions League for Real so far this season – and was an unused substitute for both legs of their win over Liverpool.
While still very much out of favour with his manager, Hazard will be hoping that he at least gets the opportunity to face his former side for a few minutes.
Despite the ‘curse’ he is supposedly responsible for, Hazard is sure of a warm reception at Stamford Bridge on April 18 when the two teams clash in the second-leg of their quarter-final tie.
