Gareth Bale risks infuriating Real Madrid as he is spotted playing golf hours before their Champions League game at Man City – having told boss Zinedine Zidane he didn’t want to travel
- Gareth Bale was pictured playing golf hours before Real Madrid’s game
- Bale didn’t travel to face Manchester City as he didn’t want to be involved
- Winger was convinced he wouldn’t play a single minute at the Etihad Stadium
Real Madrid star Gareth Bale has been playing golf after telling manager Zinedine Zidane that he didn’t want to be involved against Manchester City.
Bale wasn’t included in Real’s travelling squad for their game at the Etihad Stadium on Friday night.
The winger has been used sparingly by Zidane since Real returned to action and didn’t play at all in any of the last seven games of the LaLiga season.
Images from La Sexta El Chiringuito de Jugones showed Bale playing golf.
Gareth Bale was pictured playing golf hours before Real Madrid’s game v Manchester City
Bale didn’t travel to England as he told Zinedine Zidane that he didn’t want to be involved
The Wales international enjoyed himself playing golf after barely featuring for Real recently
Bale, who has played just twice since the restart, risks infuriating Real Madrid with his actions
In his pre-match press conference ahead of the City game, Zidane explained Bale’s omission.
He said: ‘It was a personal conversation I had with him. He preferred not to play,’ said Zidane.
‘The rest remains between me and him but he said he didn’t want to play.’
Zidane refused to go into more detail about Bale’s future after he was left out of the squad
Zidane was then asked about Bale’s future at Real, to which he responded: ‘I don’t know. Now he is a current player at Real Madrid. That has not changed. He is our player.
‘I respect that and I respect him, like everyone else.
‘He preferred not to play. That is the only thing I can tell you. The rest of us are all here, preparing for the game. The only thing we are concentrating on is the game.’
Bale, who has spoken about his love of golf, is no closer to securing a move away from Real
Despite his situation, Sportsmail understands that Bale is no closer to securing a move away from Real.
Bale saw a proposed move to Chinese club Jiangsu Suning fall through last summer.
The Wales international was pictured pretending to be asleep in the stands during Real’s 2-0 win against Alaves last month.
Since Real returned to action in June Bale has made just two appearances – he was brought on in the 61st minute against Eibar and played 71 minutes as he started against Mallorca.
The 31-year-old has just under two years remaining on his contract at Real.
