Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has confirmed injured forward Eden Hazard will miss the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Hazard has not featured for Real since suffering an ankle problem on November 26 in a Champions League match against Paris St Germain.
The 28-year-old Belgium international will not travel to next week’s four-team tournament in the Middle East in order to continue his rehabilitation.
Zidane, whose team return to LaLiga action against Getafe today (Saturday) following the winter break, expects the former Chelsea player’s recovery to be a gradual process.
“He’s 100 per cent out of the Super Cup,” Zidane said of Hazard at his pre-match press conference.
“He’s not travelling and at the moment he’s in a normal process of recovery.
“I hope that just after the Super Cup, bit by bit, we could see him with us again.”
Real, who on Wednesday face Copa del Rey holders Valencia in the semi-finals of the Super Cup in Jeddah, suffered a dip in form prior to Christmas, recording three successive draws, including a goalless El Clasico against Barcelona.
The dropped points caused Los Blancos to fall two points behind table-topping champions Barca.
Despite lifting the Club World Cup, Real endured an underwhelming 2018-19 season under three different managers.
Zidane, who returned to the club for a second spell in March, insists it would not be failure to end the current campaign without silverware.
“Failure is to not try, not compete and not give everything. I think that’s failure,” said the Frenchman.
“For me, the important thing is every day to train to your maximum, give everything in every game out on the pitch and then we’ll see.
“There’s one team that can win the Champions League, one team that can win the league, and the rest are rubbish? No, it’s not like that.”
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