Gareth Bale has been ruled out of Real Madrid’s Copa Del Rey fixture at the Bernabeu against Espanyol, after suffering an injury in Saturday’s La Liga clash.
The Welsh winger suffered a groin injury in Saturday’s 2-0 victory against Granada, with Bale enduring a tough afternoon against the Andalucian side.
Bale has been a target in the Spanish Daily press since joining the La Liga giants from Tottenham Hotspur for a lofty fee of £90 million, after a series of unfortunate injuries, which have scuppered his progression at the Bernabeu.
Daily Newspaper AS recently judged Bale to be the worst player in a recent fixture, and have also noted that the Cardiff native had only completed nine competative games out of 30 during his spell in the Spanish capital.
Ancelotti played down the injury, and stated….
“[Bale] was replaced because he had a problem,” Ancelotti said. “He was not comfortable after getting kicked, he had a problem with his left leg. It’s not an injury, more of a nuisance and he will have no problems playing the next match.”
There is also concern that the latest fitness issue could lead to another prolonged absence, as happened when a supposedly trivial knock suffered in training led to three weeks on the sidelines on December.
There were groans and even whistles from fans inside the Bernabeu as promising moves regularly broke down when Bale became involved.
Many supporters, and Journalists in Spain have called upon Ancelotti to start home grown, highly rated winger Jese Rodriguez, however, it appears that Ancelotti will stick with Bale.
Despite his difficult start, Bale has scored ten goals for Madrid, and contributed to eight assists.
By Ben Reardon
@BenReardon1
