Eden Hazard does not think that Cristiano Ronaldo is 'intrinsically' a better footballer than him, the Belgian said in conversation with L'Équipe. According to the former striker of Real Madrid and Chelsea, he was the best player in football after Lionel Messi. In an interview with France Football Hazard further indicates that he would have had a burnout if he had lived like Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Individually, Messi is the only player who had more qualities than myself,” Hazard emphasizes in conversation with the French daily. “He is the greatest player our sport has produced.”

“It was always impossible to get him off the ball, to get to the ball at all. Cristiano is much bigger than me, but if you analyze pure football, I honestly don't think he was better. On the contrary. Maybe only Neymar was,” said the Belgian.

Hazard last played for Real Madrid and ended his professional career in October 2023. He acknowledges in conversation with France Football that he did not want to and could not live for football, because it would make him depressed.

“For me, football has always been the same: fun. Both in friendly matches and in a World Cup semi-final. That's my identity. But living like Ronaldo wouldn't have been for me.”

“An hour in an ice-cold bath after a match? No way. Leave me alone. I'll go home with my friends, we'll play cards, we'll have a beer. I played with my sons in the garden for two hours. That was my recovery. If I had been like Cristiano, I would have burned out.”

“Okay, maybe I was lazy,” Hazard concludes. “I didn't go to the gym every three days, I didn't spend three hours on the massage table. And yet I made a difference. I trained every day. But I gave so much in matches and took so many kicks that my body couldn't handle working at full speed all week.”

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