Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale looks set to return to the starting line up in the Kings Cup semi final fixture against Athletico Madrid in the midweek.
Bale sat out Tuedday’s Kings Cup win against Espanyol due to a leg problem, which has also seen the winger miss tonights away game at Athletic Bilbao, in San Sebastian.
He suffered a rather unfortunate injury in the win over FC Granada last weekend.
The winger has seen his development in Spain somewhat stall, after making a world record move from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer, for a 100 million euro fee, smashing the Ronaldo fee out the water.
He has suffered niggling injuries over the last six months, however, he has started life in Spain well, adapting to the Bernabeu, and Spanish culture in a way that many predicted.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti stated in his pre match press conference ahead of the trip to the Basque country.
‘He’s not available for tomorrow because he didn’t train throughout the week with the squad,’ said Ancelotti at his pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to San Mames.
‘He’s done a good job today, he’ll train tomorrow and I think he’ll be available for Wednesday.’
The Italian went onto say….
‘He doesn’t need another pre-season, the problem that he had was very small, he only needs to train and gain confidence,’ he added.
‘I’m not worried about his problems. He had a knock and was out for 20 days. After that he played well and now he’s had a small problem, but not an injury. The training that he’s done shows that he’s fine.’
Despite his absences, Bale has notched 10 goals in all competitions already this season and has also created a number of assists for his team-mates to help establish Madrid as the top-scoring team in La Liga with 60 goals from 21 games, with Bale linking up well with Ronaldo, Benzema, and former team-mate Luka Modric.
By Ben Reardon
@BenReardon1