Four-midable Bale

Gareth Bale left for his holidays with a smile from ear to ear. Before taking a private plane to Wales, he walked across the centre of the field at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium to collect the match ball as a souvenir. From there he went to the shower and then spent about five minutes in the mixed zone before heading straight to the airport.

The Welshman is beginning to rediscover his best form. He looks to have left behind the injury problems he had and his run in the side is helping him get in good shape. He's also back amongst the goals after last season's below par return and against Rayo Vallecano he notched four in one game for the first time in his career.

The Cardiff born forward has eight league goals to his name this season, a figure much more in line with expectations, three behind Benzema and four behind Cristiano Ronaldo. Since coming to Real Madrid, Bale had netted one hat-trick against Valladolid in his first season. The other two in his career came at Tottenham.

Bale got on the score sheet twice against Betis and got one more against Eibar with the last one coming against Getafe, proving that his eye for goal is coming back. His first goal against Rayo was with his head after a great cross from Danilo, and the other three were bang on target.