Zidane defends Eden Hazard as Real Madrid fans lash out on Belgian

Real Madrid fans are devastated after getting eliminated from this season's UEFA Champions league by Premier League side Chelsea FC. As expected, they are looking for someone to blame, and unfortunately for Eden Hazard, he was an easy target.

The Belgian started the match at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, but was largely invisible as Los Blancos struggled on the attacking end. Hazard was then seen having a laugh as he took a few moments to catch up with some old friends at his former club.

The light moments were captured on camera and Madrid fans were unhappy that their player looked relaxed and happy even after they lost 2-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate. The former Chelsea player congratulated the winners, and it did not go down well with his current club's supporters.

Fans felt offended by the striker's post-game reaction and many started calling for his transfer away from the club as soon as possible.

Manager Zinedine Zidane supported Hazard, whom he had called up to play the crucial match despite having been injured for most of the campaign. "Eden has to play," Zidane said firmly at the post-match press conference. "He has to regain his confidence, little by little, by playing."

Fans were questioning the decision to start both Hazard and captain Sergio Ramos, who had also just returned from injury. "We played a semi-final and the players were prepared. If they played, it means that they were prepared," he added.

Ramos did make a difference during the game, giving Real Madrid more possession and control of the pace. However, their defensive line was not able to effectively keep the rampaging Chelsea attack at bay.

Zidane then went on to give credit to the outstanding Chelsea side. "Chelsea played a great game and qualified and they are to be congratulated. We can say that they deserved the victory. We tried, but in the end they deserved to win and go through."

However, he admitted that Real Madrid could have been more aggressive. They did not create enough chances at goal and Chelsea punished them for it.