Gareth Bale: Zinedine Zidane reveals Real Madrid forward ‘didn’t want to play’ vs Manchester City

Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane has said Gareth Bale was left out of the squad to face Manchester City because he „didn’t want to play“.

Bale has become a peripheral figure at the Bernabeu after falling out of favour under Zidane.

His omission from the travelling party this week fuelled speculation over his future and now Zidane has said this was the player’s choice.

Zidane 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.“

The Spanish champions are 2-1 down after the first leg of the last-16 tie at the Bernabeu in February.

Zidane said former Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard, who has endured an injury-hit season, was fit to feature after overcoming an ankle problem.

Zidane said: „It is true he was feeling it a bit towards the end of the (La Liga) season, but now he is much better than he was. We have had a lot of time to prepare for this game and I think he is OK and full of confidence.“

Real recently swept to the La Liga title with 10 straight wins following the restart, but Bale played just 99 minutes.

It has been a difficult season overall for the 31-year-old Wales international, who has scored just three goals and made 14 starts across all competitions.

But his agent Jonathan Barnett recently told the BBC Bale had two years left on his Real contract and was not intending to leave.

Midfielder James Rodriguez has also been left out of the squad for the Man City trip by Real boss Zidane, while forward Mariano Diaz is absent after he tested positive for coronavirus last week.

Real say captain Sergio Ramos will travel with the team to Manchester.

However, the defender will not be able to play any part in the match due to his red card in the closing stages of the first leg.

Analysis: Bale wants Premier League return but likely to stay at Real
Sky Sports News understands Bale is not injured for the tie and Spanish football expert Alvaro Montero told us: „We have to remember that, in the last nine games in La Liga, Zinedine Zidane only counted on Gareth Bale for one game.

„One year ago, I was in Washington with Zidane, the day he said it’s better for him [Bale] to go today, better than tomorrow.

„The truth is there was only one option – China [Jiangsu Suning made an offer for Bale last summer]. He didn’t want to go to China.

„He wants to return to the Premier League, but he earns €70m [five-year contract] at Real Madrid.

„There’s no club in the world, after a player that has been two seasons without playing more or less, who can pay for that. It’s a lot of money.

„So, I think it’s going to be a tricky situation but I am afraid he’s going to stay at Real Madrid.“

Bale at crossroads after Champions League snub
Despite winning four Champions League titles with Real Madrid, Gareth Bale divides opinion. He stands at another crossroads in his career.

„I need to be playing week in, week out, and that’s not happened this season. I had an injury five, six weeks into the season but I’ve been fit ever since. I have to sit down with my agent in the summer and discuss it.“

When Gareth Bale scored twice in the Champions League final against Liverpool two years ago, he used his moment in the spotlight to express his frustration, after months of being left out of the team.

Madrid are celebrating a 34th La Liga title and are targeting a fifth Champions League success in seven years this month, but very little has gone right for Bale since that public statement beneath the falling tickertape and confetti in Kiev.

Zinedine Zidane departed days later, but Julen Lopetegui’s ill-fated five-month spell and subsequent sacking was blamed on Bale by Madrid legend Jorge Valdano. To compound matters, Real turned to their former manager to avert a growing crisis in March 2019, and their relationship has been as expected.

„Their relationship is broken,“ Spanish football expert Alvaro Montero tells Sky Sports. „They don’t even talk and they don’t have a good relationship. It’s purely professional. It’s not like the relationship he has with Sergio Ramos, Casemiro or with Luka Modric.

„Bale has no relationship with Zidane. They respect each other as professionals, but there’s no relationship.“

Soccer Accumulator Bonus

Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.

This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.

The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.

If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:

Bet Type Bonus

14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.

If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.

If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.

Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.

In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.

All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.

.