Real Madrid: Bale was playing golf as team lost in Munich
Gareth Bale, who Zinedine Zidane had said "wasn't fit", was photographed by the newspaper El Confidencial enjoying a round of golf on Tuesday.
Gareth Bale was playing golf as his Real Madrid team-mates lost to Tottenham in the Audi Cup on Tuesday evening, the newspaper El Confidencial has reported.
Did not go to Munich because not fit to travel, Zidane said
Following the collapse of his proposed move to Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning, Bale did not travel to Munich with the squad, with Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane telling reporters yesterday that the Welshman "wasn't fit".
"He didn't travel because he wasn't feeling up to it," Zidane said. "He wasn't fit, and speaking with the doctors, it was better that he stayed in Madrid."
Bale's passion for golf is well-documented, but his decision to go for a round at the Ciudad Grupo Santander in Boadilla del Monte while Madrid were taking on his former club leaves question marks once again surrounding his team ethic - and suggests his physical state was rather better than Zidane had claimed.
According to El Confidencial, Bale was at the 14th hole - at which point it is highly likely that he had already been playing for a significant amount of time - at around 20:00 CEST. Madrid's clash with Spurs kicked off two hours earlier.
Criticism from Toshack
Bale this week came in for heavy criticism from compatriot and former Madrid boss John Toshack, who slammed the player's lack of Spanish when he told BBC Radio Five Live: "You've been here six or seven years now and you don't speak the language. That's an insult to the people you're working for."
Today is a key day in the resolution of Bale's future, with the transfer window in China, one of his potential destinations, due to close at 18:00.