Here is the moment Gareth Bale met with boos and whistles from his own Real Madrid fans after returning from international duty with Wales.
There is always a conflict between Bale and the Real Madrid fans but the forward’s actions in recent week have caused more anger towards him and the fans.
Whilst on international duty the Wales forward grabbed a flag that read ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order,’ in reference to a quote from a pundit talking about how the player conducts himself.
On Saturday he returned to action for Real, in the game against Real Sociedad, and Zinedine Zidane brought him on after 66 minutes, which the fans didn’t like at all.
Some fans went further with a banner of their own mirroring the flag that the former Spurs winger had carried, with the words ‘Rodrygo, Vini [Vinicius Junior], Lucas [Vazquez], Bale. In that order.’
Bale had grabbed the flag, which one of the crowd had brought, after Wales confirmed their qualification for Euro 2020 in a 2-0 win against Hungary.
The player and his manager have reportedly had issues with their relationship in the past but Zizou refused to criticise the players actions ahead of the match on Saturday, saying, “Things can happen outside but we have to look inside the club. What happens outside doesn’t bother us.
“I have spoken to Gareth like I do all players, every day we say hello and we talk if we pass in the club and that’s it.
“I am not interested in talking about what happened outside. He is OK and has trained normally with us and that is that.
“He is a player who has given lots to the club and I will look only at the sport, not what they say outside because there is a lot said and I am not here for that.
“I am not interested. It interests a lot of people but not me.”
What may have angered Los Blancos fans even before the flag was the fact that Bale had missed the club’s previous six games before the international window, only to turn up fit enough to play for his national side.
There has already been a thought that the player cared more about Ryan Giggs’ side, as well as his nickname as ‘the Golfer’ for his time on the greens.
His relationship with Zidane looked to be leading to him leaving the club last summer but a move to China was called off late in negotiations.
It remains to be seen how long he’ll stay in Spain’s capital, fans might hope he’s not there after January.
Watch The Video Below,
π΄σ §σ ’σ ·σ ¬σ ³σ Ώπβββͺπ Gareth Bale is welcomed into the game by whistles from all around the Bernabeu! pic.twitter.com/PSk82cBDQx
β Premier Sports πΊ (@PremierSportsTV) November 23, 2019