Zinedine Zidane Gives Defiant Response to Question About Gareth Bale’s Bench Antics

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane was left frustrated at another question about Gareth Bale’s recent behaviour, blasting the media for trying to create a problem out of nothing.

Bale has featured just twice since football’s return, but has still managed to steal the headlines with his antics on the bench. The Welshman used his face mask to sneak in a little nap on the side of the pitch before building binoculars using a some ankle tape last time out.

Many Spanish outlets have hit out at Bale for his ‘disrespectful’ behaviour, and Zidane was asked whether he felt as though the winger was intentionally being problematic, but the boss was again adamant (via Sky Sports) that there is no issue between Bale and himself.

“My God, what a question, man!” he said. “We think about tomorrow’s game, and Gareth the same. He is one of us. You try to put things between us but you won’t be able to.

“Every day you ask the same. You can, you have the right to ask, but everyone here is united. We all think the same way, Gareth, James (Rodríguez), everyone here. We all want the same thing.”

Zidane has taken that stance almost every time he has been asked about Bale, clearly eager to avoid exacerbating any issue that may be present between the two, but it is clear that the Welshman does not feature in his long-term plans.

Despite Madrid’s hectic schedule, Zidane has declined to include Bale in each of the team’s last five games, instead handing minutes to the likes of Eden Hazard, Rodrygo and the returning Marco Asensio.

As is seemingly the case every summer, Bale will likely be the subject of fresh transfer rumours once the upcoming window opens, but finding someone to take on his enormous wages is going to be harder than ever as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

A loan move has always seemed the most likely option, but Real can still expect to pay a hefty proportion of his wages – similar to the conundrum Manchester United found themselves in with Alexis Sánchez last summer.

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