Real Madrid vs Real Betis: Eden Hazard finally returns

The Real Madrid squad has been crippled by a number of injuries in recent months and one of the more notable lengthy absentees, Eden Hazard, is finally back in full training. Furthermore, he is officially included in the squad list against Real Betis on Saturday.

The Belgian was spotted training with the squad on Friday, and manager Zidane has confirmed his inclusion in the squad. He will be joining the attacking lineup alongside Karim Benzema, Marco Asensio, Vinicius Jr, Mariano and Rodrygo Goes. However, Zidane will likely give him limited minutes just to ease him into competitive play.

If everything goes well, Hazard may be deemed fit enough to face his former club, Chelsea FC, next week. Real Madrid will be facing the Premier League side in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.

Hazard's entire stint with Los Blancos has been marred by injury setbacks. He was previously thought to have recovered back in March, when he played briefly against Elche. He returned from over a month away due to a muscle injury, only to be sidelined again in that game.

It was a full-blown crisis, with Hazard almost ending up getting a surgery on his ankle to fix a persistent problem. An assessment by the Belgian national team doctors convinced him otherwise, and he has since been cautiously building his fitness.

"Eden is going to be with us [against Betis], he is going to be on the list," Zidane confirmed in Friday's press conference.

His recovery will hopefully last a bit longer this time, as Zidane needs as many players available as possible in the final stretch of the season. He has already been forced to call up Castilla players in the last two La Liga games, with most of his remaining first-team squad suffering from exhaustion after a frantic week that had El Clasico sandwiched between two legs of the UCL quarter-finals against Liverpool.

Both the UCL and La Liga title hopes are still alive, and the squad will be hopeful that more players can be available to contribute in the coming crucial weeks.