?Real Madrid were beaten 3-1 by Real Sociedad on Sunday evening as their disappointing season lumbers towards a conclusion, and Zinedine Zidane continued to drop hints over Gareth Bale’s future.
Los Blancos opened the scoring through Spanish youngster Diaz in the sixth minute, which seemed to suggest that Real Madrid were in the mood. However, a goal-line handball from Jesus Vallejo saw the 22-year-old walking down the tunnel and acted as the catalyst for Sociedad’s comeback.
Mikel Merino,
Before the match, the was much debate over the exclusion of Gareth Bale and what this could mean for the Welshman, and Zidane provided some explanation in his post match interview (via Sportsmole), saying: “We’ll see if he’s going to be (playing) next week.
“He’s fine physically. We will see the next game and next year. It’s clear what I’ve done for this week.”
Los Blancos’ manager was however impressed by Diaz’s performance, adding: “He has played well. He is a good player and very interesting. He’s young, we’ll see what happens next year. He has had minutes and he has done well.”
In terms of his team’s performance, Zidane was pleased with how his side started the match but acknowledged that playing with 10 men probably hindered their chances of coming away with all three points.
“The second part has been complicated, but even with 10 it has been back and forth and we had chances to score.
“When you start well and finish like that, it is complicated, especially for the players because of the effort they have made.”
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