Premier League Rumors: Los Blancos Suffer Blow, Hazard Injured Again

The return of Eden Hazard has been cut short with the Belgian suffering possibly re-injuring the same broken right foot in their loss to Levante. According to team manager Zinedine Zidane, Hazard's injury is not looking good and admits it is big blow. The severity of the 29-year-old's injury will be known in the coming days after additional tests are done.

And while that is being monitored, Zidane finds himself one man short once more. They are set to face Manchester City next with the Belgian unlikely to be available, AFP reports. Hazard was taken out in the second half and was spotted with an ice pack wrapped around the same foot he broke back in November.

"It doesn't look good," said Zidane. "It can become weak where you've had an injury. It is a blow, let's see. It's sore now but we'll see tomorrow when we do more tests."

The injury is another frustrating blow for the attacking midfielder. Prior to breaking his foot back in November, the 29-year-old left-winger injured his hamstring. This took place before Real's opening fixture in August. He recently made his first start against Celta Vigo and looked pretty impressive. He played 70 minutes in that match as covered in a previous post.

The loss to Levante also means that Real surrendered first place in La Liga to Barcelona. Ironically, Los Blancos will face them in the Clasico next Sunday. With Hazard out, Zidane is likely to turn to Vinicius Junior. But he may need to fire up other players on the team as they prepare for Barca.

The road ahead may have gotten bumpier for Zidane who has dealt with several stats out due to injury. That includes Gareth Bale who was left out of the Levante trip due to a stomach bug, Fox Sports reported. He was unable to train last Wednesday. Also missing against Levante was Luka Jovic, curiously suffering from the same issue as Bale.

Looking ahead, Zidane may need to address is tiring in the latter stages, Forbes.com reported. That could be due to the fact that there are some aging players in the mix. Zidane may need to rotate other players on the bench to make sure they remain competitive. Against Manchester City, this is a must for them to keep abreast.