Published 19:28 IST, December 26th 2019
Gareth Bale goalless for 114 days as Zinedine Zidane & Real Madrid fans boil over drought
LaLiga 2019-20: Real Madrid's bizarre run in the 18-19 season forced them to get back Zinedine Zidane and thus began the Gareth Bale-Zinedine Zidane saga.
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Gareth Bale made his debut for Real Madrid in 2013 after a brilliant spell with Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. The Welsh winger was the most expensive signing back in time and was expected to make an instant impact in LaLiga. Bale was lethal, his pace was unmatchable and impressed in Spain in his debut season. The famous trio of BBC - Benzema, Bale and Cristiano, gave all defenders a run for their money. Gareth Bale's Real Madrid career was, however, hampered due to injuries.
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Gareth Bale: Injury, goal drought, golf - In that order
Gareth Bale and Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane have had their ups and downs. From Zidane commenting "I hope Gareth Bale leaves as soon as possible" at the start of the season to Bale dancing with the infamous "Wales, Golf and Real Madrid - in that order" flag, everything points at Gareth Bale leaving Real Madrid soon.
Adding to Gareth Bale's struggle at the Bernabeu, the star has not scored a single goal in 114 days which almost sums up to 4 months. He last scored a brace against Villareal on September 2, 2019. To Gareth Bale's defence, the former Tottenham superstar has not been the first choice player for Zidane since he got injured on international duty. However, Bale was in Real Madrid's starting XI in the big 'El Clasico' at Camp Nou in which he was above average.
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Gareth Bale first picked up a calf muscle injury in the 2015-16 season which kept the winger out for 40 days. Which was then followed by a series of different injuries including his ankle injury in the 2016-17 season which went on for 84 days and Bale missed 17 games in that tenure. It didn't stop then and things went on from bad to worse for the 30-year-old. Gareth Bale, however, created some moments to remember whenever he played but fans and the Madrid board started losing faith in the former Spurs player.
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Everyone expected Gareth Bale to take charge when Cristiano Ronaldo left last season as Bale himself said in an interview "Real Madrid, now, plays more as a team". But then he went on to miss 50 days of football and skipped nine games due to injury in the 2018-19 season. Real Madrid's bizarre run in the 2018-19 season forced them to get back Zinedine Zidane and thus began the tiff between Gareth Bale and Zinedine Zidane.
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19:28 IST, December 26th 2019