Eden Hazard hasn't made the best of starts at Real Madrid

He was injured in pre-season before starting a competitive game and only returned after sitting out the first few games of the campaign. 

Even since the Belgian has been back to full fitness, he's failing to impress some of the Spanish media. 

Marca, in particular, have been very critical of Madrid's latest Galactico signing and even suggested Tuesday's Champions League fixture vs Galatasaray was going to be like a 'final' for him. 

The game offered Hazard a chance to announce himself on the European stage and he was certainly fresh after sitting out last weekend's La Liga defeat. 

He had a decent first half in Turkey too, providing the assist for Toni Kroos' goal. But in the second, Hazard fluffed a golden opportunity. 

After rounding the goalkeeper, the forward blasted his shot against the crossbar, missing an open goal from a few yards out. 

You can watch his shocking effort below:

Oh dear. Hazard arguably hits it too well. If he scuffs his shot, it could well have gone in. 

Misses like that won't help save the Belgian from the criticism he's faced in his first few months at Madrid. 

Luckily, it didn't end up costing Los Blancos on Tuesday night. 

Kroos' goal, which Hazard assisted, was enough for Zinedine Zidane's side to beat Galatasaray at the Türk Telekom Stadium. 

The result pulls Madrid up to second in their group, having started the day rock bottom. 

However, they will likely struggle to catch leaders Paris Saint-Germain, who have taken maximum points from their opening three fixtures.  

Perhaps more importantly though, Tuesday's result gives Zidane a bit of breathing space, with rumours before kickoff suggesting anything but a win would have landed him in hot water.