Bale did not wish to play for Real against City, says Zidane

 

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - La Liga Santander - Real Madrid v Athletic Bilbao - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - December 22, 2019 Real Madrid's Gareth Bale REUTERS/Juan Medina/File Photo

 

MANCHESTER (Reuters) - Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has revealed Gareth Bale chose not to travel to his side's Champions League decider against Manchester City because he did not want to play, signalling the latest rift between the club and their joint-record signing.

 

Bale barely featured for Zidane's side in their run to the Spanish title when the season resumed after the COVID-19 stoppage, starting only one game and was visibly subdued during their celebrations.

 

He was left out of the squad for the final league game of the season against Leganes and was also absent from the squad for Friday's last-16 second leg, where Madrid must overturn a 2-1 deficit to progress to the last eight.

 

"Many things have been said, there is a respectful relationship between the club and player but all I will say is that he preferred to not play, the rest is between us and him," Zidane told a news conference on Thursday, adding the forward had been left out for personal rather than technical reasons.

 

A source close to the player said Bale did not wish to travel to the game because he believed he was not going to play any part in it.

 

Bale, 31, has won four Champions League titles with Real, scoring crucial goals in the 2014 and 2018 final triumphs over Atletico Madrid and Liverpool respectively.

 

But a trophy-laden career at Real appears to have grinded towards a sad end, with the distance between the Wales forward and Zidane growing ever greater.

 

Zidane, who returned to Real in March 2019 after resigning from the role 10 months earlier, has not tried to hide his lack of warmth towards Bale, saying in pre-season last year that he wished the player would leave the club as soon as possible.

 

Spanish media reports said Bale was on the verge of joining Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning in July 2019 but Real blocked the move at the last hour because they were not going to receive a transfer fee.

 

(Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-07

 

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Time for Gareth to move on.

 

If he wouldn't mind cutting his wages by 75%, I'm sure Wolves* and Sheffield Utd would be interested.

 

* Bale on the left and Traore bombing down on defences would be great to see.

 

Didn't want to play. 600k per week and didn't want to play. The football world is officially mad

they say history repeats itself. This is looking more and more like a repeat of how Real Madrid treated Nicolas Anelka, especially after watching the documentary " Nicolas Anelka - Misunderstood".

13 minutes ago, mrbojangles said:

Didn't want to play. 600k per week and didn't want to play. The football world is officially mad

You have to wonder how true the statement is, they have form. 

When I first read about it he wasn't included in the squad and now it comes out He said he doesn't want to play, who to believe

The failed transfer to the CSL was blocked by RM because of the injury to Asensio in a pre season friendly, would have been a perfect opportunity to offload him get him off the wage bill 

He refused to shake Zidane's hand in one game.

 

Obviously Zidane didn't like that.

 

Bale's constant injuries were an issue.

 

However he's not playing because Zidane doesn't even want him on the plane. Not because Bale won't play.

It's easy to imagine the conversation between Bale and ZZ:

 

ZZ: do you want to join the squad and come to Manchester?

 

GB: er, are you going to be playing me, even as a late impact sub?

 

ZZ: No.

 

GB: Thanks, gaffer, I'll not waste my time by getting on board that plane.

 

 

ZZ is an Alpha <deleted>, who is jealous that Bale may somehow rub out the ZZ reputation at the Bernabeu.

 

If I were GB, I'd stuff them for everything they've got....

2 hours ago, BangrakBob said:

You have to wonder how true the statement is, they have form. 

 

I agree it's a bit iffy but would Zidane really say something that Bale could easily say is a down right lie?

3 minutes ago, mrbojangles said:

 

I agree it's a bit iffy but would Zidane really say something that Bale could easily say is a down right lie?

Of course he would. He's the head of a major footballing organisation so he is used to lying on a daily basis, no way to do the job otherwise. And Zidane knows very well Bale would never call him a liar publicly as long as Bale is at Real Madrid. 

 

I suspect Bale did question the need to come if he wasn't going to play and Zidane pounced on it saying "so you don't want to come", Bale replied in the affirmativ and Zidane ran with it because he really can't stand Bale who disrespected him in public by not shaking his hand.

2 hours ago, Logosone said:

Of course he would. He's the head of a major footballing organisation so he is used to lying on a daily basis, no way to do the job otherwise. And Zidane knows very well Bale would never call him a liar publicly as long as Bale is at Real Madrid. 

 

I suspect Bale did question the need to come if he wasn't going to play and Zidane pounced on it saying "so you don't want to come", Bale replied in the affirmativ and Zidane ran with it because he really can't stand Bale who disrespected him in public by not shaking his hand.

Sounds about right.

Zidane is a snake by going public with such remarks.

 

I don't like it either.

 

The thing is players have a lot of power today and Bale was constantly talking about how unhappy he was about not playing. He even gave Zidane an ultimatum, either I play more minutes or I leave.

 

So I guess to get some hand Zidane did what he did. Also he'll have to justify to the fans that Bale is going. And many remember he scored some instrumental and spectacular goals.

8 hours ago, BangrakBob said:

You have to wonder how true the statement is, they have form. 

Yeah.. think there's probably a  bit of a 'language' issue here.. bale ain't featured/ since lockdown  so probaly went something like .. you can travel,. But you ain't playing.... So......what do u want to do?  Zidane   wants bales wages of his budget... Bale needs to move on . he'll look bac and regret this..he's got shed  loads of cash and no doubts will get more  what he can't replace is time..