Real Madrid Star Unbelievably Beats Lionel Messi In This Big 5 European League Category

A Real Madrid star incredibly beats Lionel Messi and other soccer greats in one category across all the Big 5 European leagues.

Former Chelsea forward Eden Hazard is now making a name for himself at Real Madrid. Despite not being as prolific as Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in scoring goals, Hazard has proven that the Blues really know talent when they see one.

According to a recent data from CIES Football Observatory , Hazard now holds the records for 200 and 300 big five (Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and the Primera Division) league matches after establishing himself at Stamford Bridge, beating Messi and other soccer superstars in the process.

The new research is designed to identify the most precocious players currently active who clocked up significant appearance milestones in the big five Europe Leagues at the youngest age.

The Belgian was only 23 years old when he played his 200th game in the five major European championships, having already racked up a significant number of appearances at Lille before his move to the UK.

He is the only player currently in the big 5 who reached his 300th cap before 26 years of age. Five additional soccer greats played 300 games before their 27th birthday: James Milner, Moussa Sissoko, Iker Muniain, Miralem Pjanić and Cesc Fàbregas. Messi on the other hand, was almost 28 years old when he reached the said feat.

This wasn’t the first time Hazard impressively made the headlines. Back in May 2019, when he was preparing for a big-money move to Real Madrid, Hazard has been compared to Messi.

The then Chelsea forward hasn’t quite managed to reach the goal-scoring numbers that Messi and Ronaldo obtain every year. However, Hazard has almost undoubtedly been Chelsea’s standout player of the past few seasons and played an instrumental role in both their Premier League title wins in 2015 and 2017.

English soccer legend Kevin Keegan made one of the most notable remarks on Hazard’s game. According to Keegan, Hazard can reach the level of Messi in the coming years.

“I think Eden Hazard is the best player, 100 percent,” Keegan said.

“He’s the Lionel Messi of tomorrow and he’s almost there now,” Keegan continued.

Meanwhile, Hazard is currently recovering after undergoing surgery on March 5 in Dallas to repair a bone in his ankle, which he suffered on 22 February against Levante . He is reportedly taking advantage of the quarantine due to the coronavirus outbreak to get back in his best form.