Bale takes refuge with Wales amid his fury at Zidane
Gareth Bale is enraged by his situation at Madrid and only with Wales does he get the chance to be a leader that he believes he deserves.
Amid his frustrations with Real Madrid and specifically with coach Zinedine Zidane, Gareth Bale has left the Spanish capital to take refuge amongst his Wales team mates ahead of their upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Slovakia and Croatia.
With Wales sitting fourth in Group E and with just six points from four games, they will need their Real Madrid talisman at his best if they are going to get the points required from these next two games to keep hopes of qualifying for next year’s Euro 2020 alive.
Victory against Slovakia is seen as priority to keep them in the running for automatic qualification for the tournament that gave Wales such lasting memories the last time out in 2016, when they managed to reach the semi-finals. There they went crashing out to eventual winners Portugal, but a last-four finish was a monumental achievement for then-coach Chris Coleman and his squad lead by Bale.
Bale back in anger at Madrid
Bale has enjoyed a good start to the season and plenty of minutes – starting seven of Madrid’s ten fixtures this season, in which he has scored two goals and provided two assists.
But his omission from the squad for last week’s Champions League encounter has angered the Welshman, so much so that he now wants to leave the club. Zidane has claimed his absence was due to injury, but that is something which the player’s own camp has denied.
Bale could have left in the summer, but no club was willing to pay him what he earns at Madrid, which is around 15 million euros net per year. After the tensions of the summer, things seemed to be looking up for the Welshman, but the gulf between he and Zidane has emerged once again.
The 30-year-old striker is enraged by his situation at Madrid and only with Wales does he get the chance to be a leader that he believes he deserves.