Watch as Gareth Bale plays golf in Spain just hours before Real Madrid’s defeat at Man City after REFUSING to travel - 7M sport

Watch as Gareth Bale plays golf in Spain just hours before Real Madrid’s defeat at Man City after REFUSING to travel



Posted Saturday, August 08, 2020 by Thesun.co.uk

GARETH BALE was spotted playing golf just hours before Real Madrid crashed out of the Champions League at Manchester City.

The superstar winger practised his putting on a green with a friend after refusing to play for his side.

Watch as Gareth Bale plays golf in Spain just hours before Real Madrid’s defeat at Man City after REFUSING to travel
Bale was out playing golf hours before his side competed in the Champions League Credit: El Chiringuito

Watch as Gareth Bale plays golf in Spain just hours before Real Madrid’s defeat at Man City after REFUSING to travel
The Real Madrid star chose not to travel with Real because he knew he would not play Credit: El Chiringuito

Zinedine Zidane's LaLiga winners headed to Manchester for the second-leg clash against Pep Guardiola's men.

The Premier League runners-up went into the clash with a 2-1 lead from the first leg.

And Real Madrid could have benefitted from Bale's attacking threat as they crashed out at the Etihad.

Raphael Varane twice messed up with Gabriel Jesus pouncing - first to lay off for Raheem Sterling to open the scoring on the night.

And then after Karim Benzema nodded in an equaliser on the night, Varane's header back to Thibaut Courtois was intercepted by Jesus.

The Brazilian tucked in well from an angle to send City into the quarter-finals and Real Madrid packing.

Watch as Gareth Bale plays golf in Spain just hours before Real Madrid’s defeat at Man City after REFUSING to travel
Bale famously posed with this banner after playing a game with Wales

Watch as Gareth Bale plays golf in Spain just hours before Real Madrid’s defeat at Man City after REFUSING to travel
The Welshman has a handicap of five and loves hitting the course

Los Blancos may have regretted being without Bale, 31, after he was left out of the squad by Zidane.

The Welshman's relationship with the legendary Frenchman, who guided this team to three straight European titles from 2016, is at an all-time low.

Bale, who is on around £350,000 a week after tax, did not feature in any of Real's final seven LaLiga games as they won the league for a record 34th time.

He was seen pretending to sleep in the stands and on another occasion playing around with mock binoculars after being benched again.

Zidane revealed the reason behind not including Bale in his squad when speaking ahead of the clash.

ZZ, who included Sergio Ramos even though he is suspended, said: "It was a personal conversation I had with him.

"He preferred not to play.

"The rest remains between me and him but he said he didn't want to play."

Asked if Bale had a future at Real, the Bernabeu boss responded: "I don't know. Now he is a current player at Real Madrid.

"That has not changed. He is our player. I respect that and I respect him, like everyone else.

"He preferred not to play. That is the only thing I can tell you.

"The rest of us are all here, preparing for the game. The only thing we are concentrating on is the game."

However, Bale was backed by Gary Lineker, who suggested the former Spurs star is not getting the respect he deserves.

In response to one journalist's article about Bale's situation, former Barcelona forward Lineker wrote: "People with absolutely no idea of what is actually going on slamming one of the finest players of our time.

"He’s enjoyed an incredible career, won trophies galore and is a nice bloke to boot."

Bale, who scored that unforgettable overhead kick against Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final, believed he had absolutely no chance of playing a minute at the Etihad.



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