Gareth Bale receives ovation from Bernabéu crowd
The Welsh striker was substituted in the 83rd minute of the game being replaced by James and received a warm round of applause from the home supporters.
On so many times, Welsh player Gareth Bale has been a source of ire for the notoriously volatile Real Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabéu with the player roundly whistled and jeered on numerous occasions over the past few seasons.
Despite everything pointing to a summer exit from the LaLiga side this close season with a move to the Chinese Super League breaking down at the eleventh hour, the striker has become a regular starter for Zidane this season.
Impressive
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Fortunes on the field have changed for Bale too with an impressive start to the season seeing the Cardiff born player deliver notable performances in the Madrid shirt with his pass in the 4-2 win over Granada leaving many looking for superlatives to describe the assist which lead to Benzema's opening goal.
Bale too has been more active in defensive duties, a feature cited as lacking on many an occasion by his detractors within the Real Madrid fan-base in the past.