Bengaluru, April 7: Gareth Bale is eyeing a move back to the Premier League after the latest Champions League snub by Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane. Real Madrid produced one of their best performances of the season in their 3-0 triumph over Juventus in Turin in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal. And while Cristiano Ronaldo’s bicycle-kick goal was the most talked-about moment of the match, there was someone within the Real squad who wasn’t entirely happy with the proceedings.
Gareth Bale, who was benched for the game, showed no emotions even as his fellow Madrid members celebrated in joy after Ronaldo’s goal. Video grabs show Bale bearing a straight face while even Juventus fans cheered for Ronaldo on Tuesday night.
Gareth Bale’s reaction to Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal is priceless - the man just couldn’t care any less 😂 pic.twitter.com/B7OMRinCv6
— Ben (@ben_crtrUCLan) April 4, 2018
Reports suggest that Bale was initially unhappy with Zidane’s squad selection, which left the Welshman out of the Playing XI for Isco. The Spanish winger recently slammed Zidane for not showing faith in him and Zidane responded by started Isco in the crunch game against the Serie A champions. However, this was done at the expense of Bale, who has not looked his best at Real Madrid this season. Although Bale was named on the bench, he remained an unused substitute in the game. Zidane opted for Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio over him, which further seems to have upset Bale.
Gareth Bale has no intention of leaving Real Madrid this summer despite having been dropped for recent key games. (Source: AS) pic.twitter.com/EE79vuu2sg
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) April 7, 2018
Frequent injuries since his then world record transfer have hampered Bale’s progress at Real Madrid. After a few inconsistent performances in the La Liga, Zidane has preferred to develop Vazquez and Asensio as wingers. That much is evident from Bale's playing time this season - he has played just 36 minutes of UEFA Champions League football over the two last-16 fixtures against Paris Saint-Germain. In the quarterfinal first leg, Bale did not even make it off the bench against Juventus despite being fully fit.
GarethBale injuries in recent years. Whilst you taking stock of that bear in mind that this occured in La Liga. Now just emagine the state of the lad in the PL.
— Bryan Davies (@MrBryanDavies) April 1, 2018
Do I want him? Hell no!! I don't care how many f..king shirts the club could sell. pic.twitter.com/gHzYWJLxps
Wales' all-time record scorer grabbed a brace and played 90 minutes in La Liga last week during the 3-0 victory over Las Palmas, but that wasn't enough to convince his manager for a cameo at the Juventus Stadium.
This looks to be the last straw in Bale’s relationship with Zidane. The winger has made up his mind to secure a move back to the Premier League. Manchester United lead the race to sign Bale but they have also shown interest in Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Isco. In his five seasons at the Bernabeu, Bale has raked up 81 goals and registered 58 assists in 180 games.