Here’s why Real Madrid are better off without Gareth Bale
Gareth Bale faces a race against time to be fit for Sunday’s potentially title-deciding La Liga clash between Real Madrid and Barcelona. However, many Madrid fans won’t be losing any sleep should the Welshman miss out as Real have thrived despite another injury-ravaged season for the world’s second most expensive player.
“There has been no Real Madrid fan seen crying over Bale’s injury,” said an editorial in Madrid sports daily Marca this week. “Bale’s absence is a solution for Real Madrid, not a problem.”
Some of Bale’s obvious individual qualities have shone through in his four seasons since moving to Madrid for a then world record fee of just over 100 million euros ($107 million). He scored more headed goals than anyone in Europe last season, still possesses electric pace and a deadly left foot.
Indeed, his role in winning two Champions Leagues in the past three seasons was rewarded with a massive new five-year contract reportedly worth 600,000 a week back in October. However, the statistics show Madrid have benefited far more when coach Zinedine Zidane has balanced his side with less glamorous names to work within a more solid structure.
Bale’s injuries have limited him to just 18 of Madrid’s 31 La …read more
