"Haters mudded", "Redemption" - Real Madrid fans thrilled as forgotten star puts in 'masterclass' Champions League performance after Karim Benzema injury

Real Madrid fans have heaped praise on Eden Hazard following his outstanding display as a substitute against Celtic in the Champions League on September 7.

Los Blancos started their European Cup defense slowly and were given a real scare in the first half when the Scottish champions hit the post.

Their evening became a whole lot worse when talisman Karim Benzema was forced to come off due to injury, which led to Carlo Ancelotti bringing Hazard on.

😄 EDEN!😄
#UCL https://t.co/JFAaOd7uVY

The European champions eventually gained control of the game and took the lead in the 56th minute when Vinicius Junior buried his chance following Fede Valverde's incredible pass. Real Madrid doubled their lead on the hour mark when Celtic couldn't handle Hazard's direct run. He laid off Luka Modric, who calmly finished with the outside of his right foot.

Madrid secured the win when Hazard fired home his first goal of the season following an incredible team move. The Belgium international has endured a torrid time at the Bernabeu which has been ravaged by injury. He has missed over 65 games during his three-year spell in Spain.

The former Chelsea superstar has scored just seven goals in his 69 appearances for the Galacticos since his 2019 move. But supporters will be hopeful that his sparkling cameo this evening will kickstart his career in the Spanish capital.

Following the full-time whistle at Celtic Park, fans took to Twitter to praise Hazard's impact as a False 9 after coming off the bench:

@realmadriden @hazardeden10 OMG! Haters MUDDED. Redemption season is on!!

@realmadriden @hazardeden10 Beautiful team goal. Hazarrrddddddddd!!¡!!!!!!

@realmadriden @hazardeden10 about time

@realmadriden @hazardeden10 Hazard⚽ finally made it to the score sheet

@realmadriden @hazardeden10 Greatest Belgian of all time

@realmadriden @hazardeden10 Hope this goal, gives him more confidence In the future

@realmadriden @hazardeden10 Garden of Eden is baCk⚽

@realmadriden @hazardeden10 Now am happy😭

@realmadriden @hazardeden10 His gameplay today was 🔥(goal aside) masterclass performance from him 👏🏼 i hope he'll take over benzema position till he recovers

Hazard wore our 3rd kit, thought he’s playing for Chelsea again, and delivered a masterclass. https://t.co/XIAL6cFVUv

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti pleased with team's second half performance against Celtic

It turned out to be a relatively comfortable evening for the Spanish champions as they managed to subdue an incredibly hostile Parkhead crowd.

While they had to weather a Celtic storm to start with, Real Madrid eventually showed their class and secured the victory. After the clash, Ancelotti claimed he was pleased with his team's display, as he told BT Sport (as per BBC Sport):

"It was like two games, first half we suffered a bit with intensity, second half we had control.

"We were not surprised [with Celtic's start]. We knew they could start really fast. We were lucky because they hit the post."

He added:

"Second half, was much better. When we opened to scoring it was easier for us to control the ball."

The legendary boss further added in his news conference:

"We were worried for this game because we knew what they did against Rangers. We suffered in the first half and it is absolutely normal to suffer here."

👉 BOSS 👈
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Real Madrid are in Group F, where the other two teams are RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk.