"Genuinely heartbreaking", "Back to square one" - Real Madrid fans distraught as Carlo Ancelotti benches attacker for UCL clash against Leipzig

Real Madrid supporters are upset with manager Carlo Ancelotti after the Italian dropped Eden Hazard for their Champions League clash with RB Leipzig tonight (September 14)

The Belgian replaced Karim Benzema last week after the striker limped off in the first half of Madrid's 3-0 win against Celtic.

Many felt that Los Blancos would struggle without their talismanic forward but Hazard did an excellent job filling in as a false nine. The Belgian international even scored for Madrid following an incredible team move, which was just his seventh goal in 69 games since his club-record move in 2019.

Hazard's time at the Bernabeu has been severely hampered by injuries but Benzema's injury gave him a chance to start against Mallorca on Sunday (September 11). The forward failed to score and was substituted.

Rodrygo will now start for the Galacticos up front against the Bundesliga side. Ahead of the clash at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid supporters took to Twitter to show their support for Hazard, who they feel deserves a run in the starting lineup.

Here are some of the reactions:

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Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti wary of threat RB Leipzig pose in Champions League

This is the first-ever meeting between the two sides, who are the favorites to qualify from the group ahead of Celtic and Shakhtar Donetsk. Madrid will be hoping to make it two wins from as many matches in the Champions League

Meanwhile, the Bundesliga side sacked their manager following their shocking 4-1 at home to Shakhtar last week.

Ancelotti, though, has refused to take the game lightly. The legendary Italian told a press conference (as per Real Madrid's official website):

"It's an important game in terms of group qualification. Leipzig have had problems at the beginning of the season but they played very well in their last game against Dortmund, They've got a lot of quality and speed up front we'll try to put in a good performance and win the game."

"Leipzig have a very dangerous forward line. Not just Werner. Nkunku played very well last season and he's playing very well this season too. Szoboszlai too. Forsberg is very experienced. They're a very dangerous team if you give them the chance to show their quality. It's going to be very important for us to defend well tomorrow, but also to play well in attack."