Chelsea thrashed Real Madrid by 3-1 in the semi-finals of Europa League. Despite Real losing Eden Hazard was found laughing and talking to Chelsea players after the 2nd leg of the semi-final. While it may have seemed an innocuous incident, Hazard was subsequently criticised by fans. Following this incident Hazard apologized to the fans on his Instagram.
Hazard said: ‘I am sorry. I have read lots of opinions about me today and it was not my intention to offend the Real Madrid fans.
‘It has always been my dream to play for Real Madrid and I came here to win. The season is not over and together we must not battle for La Liga! Hala Madrid!’
Hazard played seven seasons at Chelsea and won 2 Premier League, two Europa Leagues and the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge – before completing a dream move to Real Madrid in 2019.
Hazard had been out of the Madrid squad due to injuries and had missed around 50 matches. He has scored 4 times in the 40 matches played. Real has a great history in the Champions League as they have won it 13 times, highest by any club in the history of the competition. But the Madrid club lost to the Blues in the semis this season.
Reacting to Madrid’s exit, manager Zinedine Zidane said: ‘We can say that yes, they deserved the win. We fought and tried but they deserved to win and go through.
‘The players who have played tonight were fit to play. I’m proud of my boys: we tried; we have got this far – just one game from the final. Chelsea played a great match and have gone through and we have to say well done to them.
‘We needed to be better going forward. We didn’t have any clear chances; they made a number of them and that’s football. But as I’ve said, I’m very proud of my boys. Now we rest and think of the Liga.’
‘Of course, we’re not happy. When you lose a semi-final, you can’t be happy and that’s normal. It’s tough to take, but tomorrow we’ll be back out on the training pitch ready to go again.’
