Rio Ferdinand claims Eden Hazard joined Real Madrid at the wrong time

BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand feels that Eden Hazard joined Real Madrid at the wrong time, following the Spanish giants’ 3-0 thrashing in Paris.

Zinedine Zidane’s men traveled to the Parc des Princes to take on Paris Saint-Germain in their opening Group A Champions League encounter.

The Los Blancos would have been keen to get over the disappointment of the previous season, in which they were knocked out of the competition by a young Ajax Amsterdam after previously lifting the title 3 consecutive times.

Instead, PSG ran the show in Paris, with Marco Verratti and summer signing Idrissa Gueye dominating the midfield against an uncharacteristically poor Toni Kroos and Casemiro.

A first half brace by former Madrid star Angel Di Maria got the action underway, before Thomas Meunier combined with Juan Bernat to complete the humiliation in second half stoppage time.

For the first time in the Champions League since the 2003/04 season, Real did not have a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.

In spite of struggling with an early injury crisis, Zidane named a star-studded lineup last night, with €100 million summer signing Eden Hazard joining Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale in attack, with James Rodriguez being the creative force in midfield.

But PSG’s energy and work-rate barely gave Madrid any breathing room. Gueye, in particular, was all over the pitch, pitching in with 4 tackles and completing more dribbles than Bale.

Hazard, who started on the left wing, was effectively shackled by compatriot Meunier until he was withdrawn for Lucas Vasquez in the 70th minute.

Speaking to BT Sport after the match, former Man United center back Rio Ferdinand said:

"“I’m fearful for him that he’s gone there at the wrong time. This is a team that’s ageing, this is a team that’s not on their way up, they’ve not got much spark about them at the moment, and that’s going to affect him, and it’s going to reflect badly on him maybe in the long term.”"

Indeed, most of Madrid’s first team stars, who were veterans of their incredible run of 4 UCL titles in 5 years, are well into their 30’s. Ramos, Benzema, Modric, Bale and Marcelo are all well past their peaks.

Several new signings such as Vinicius, Rodrygo, Brahim Diaz and Luka Jovic are still too young to take over the mantle.

Going by the PSG performance, Zidane is will face an uphill battle to challenge for any titles this season. His job could also be on the line, with a few persistent rumors still linking Jose Mourinho to the Bernabeu hot seat.