{"id":1098609,"date":"2019-07-21T12:48:47","date_gmt":"2019-07-21T11:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1098609"},"modified":"2019-07-21T13:44:03","modified_gmt":"2019-07-21T12:44:03","slug":"drwss-gareth-bale","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/drwss-gareth-bale\/","title":{"rendered":"Dream, realistic, wildcard, Squawka suggests: where next for Zinedine Zidane\u2019s Real Madrid castaway Gareth Bale?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gareth Bale took centre stage as\u00a0Real Madrid\u00a0beat\u00a0Liverpool\u00a0to win their 13th European title last year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The win was Madrid’s third in a row, and fourth in five years, with Bale playing a key role in all four of those triumphs.<\/p>\n

He scored the crucial go-ahead goal in 2014, fired Real to the 2016 final with his deflected effort being the only goal of the semi-final, and came off the bench in Kiev to score twice and give Real the win, with his first being one of the greatest goals the competition has ever seen.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7317342-rodgers-has-helped-tick-the-boxes-for-maguire-s-manchester-move<\/p>\n

Yet, believe it or not, Bale is not happy at Real Madrid. Injury, managerial preference, a difficulty with the Spanish lifestyle have all been an issue.<\/p>\n

The Welshman hasn’t played more than 2000 minutes in La Liga since 2014\/15, a damning statistic. In the afterglow of his display in Kyiv, Bale was very candid about his situation in the Spanish capital.<\/p>\n

“I need to be playing week in, week out and that hasn\u2019t happened this season for one reason or another.<\/p>\n

“I have to sit down in the summer and discuss my future with my agent and take it from there,” were Bale’s words after the full-time whistle.<\/p>\n

Zinedine Zidane’s (initial) departure led many to expect that Bale would rise up and finally emerge from Cristiano Ronaldo’s shadow to claim his status as the star of the side without a manager who didn’t trust him and a superstar blocking his path.<\/p>\n

Instead, Bale has had his most underwhelming season yet, as he’s remained mostly fit but has been unable to cement his star status in the capital.<\/p>\n

His troubles have been such that the Madrid fans are turning on him now; in a recent Cl\u00e1sico defeat to Barcelona last term he was withdrawn to a chorus of whistles from the Santiago Bernabeu. A humiliating incident which caused his agent to speak out against the club.<\/p>\n

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Barnett, Bale\u2019s agent: "This generation of Real fans will be talking about Gareth's goals for years to come. Frankly they should be ashamed of themselves. Gareth deserves the greatest of respect. The way the Real fans have treated Gareth is nothing short of a disgrace\u201d.<\/p>\n

— Arancha Rodr\u00edguez (@AranchaMOBILE) March 4, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n