Only 100 of a possible 990 minutes for Real Madrid since La Liga resumed and none at all in the final seven matches \u2013 that\u2019s how much time he\u2019s spent on the pitch all this while since joining the prestigious Los Blancos.<\/p>\n
\u201c<\/strong>If Gareth Bale leaves tomorrow, so much the better for everyone.\u201d The memorable words uttered a year ago in Houston on 21 July 2019 from none other than Zinedine Zidane, the erstwhile Real Madrid boss and backbone of their most recent LaLiga victorious trophy acquisition over rivals and incumbent champions Barcelona. Zidane had said then that Gareth Bale should leave the Bernab\u00e9u as the presence of the Welshman at Madrid had been generating confusion.<\/p>\n A full year has in the meantime lapsed and it appears that not much has changed since then except for the fact that the twelve months later Real Madrid are now the proud champions of the Spanish League and good old Senor Bale is still busy warming the bench on the sidelines there, a little older and still as stuck in the muck as he was before. It\u2019s not so much the conundrum itself, but him, that\u2019s so simply amazing.<\/p>\n Whilst the final games were fiercely fought as Madrid edged towards the title, the focus began to shift towards Bale. No, not on the pitch, as his services were on display only twice after football\u2019s return, playing a grand total of 100 minutes of a possible 990 and none in the final seven games. The spotlight was on him in the stands with the roving cameras picking him up as an easy prey to stalk, particularly highlighted by the lack of thousands of boisterous spectators in empty stadiums Empty is probably the most appropriate word to describe the predicament he has lodged himself uncomfortably into now What an unbecoming legacy for a four-time European winner to be ending up with , one that is truly sad. Perhaps even sadder still as the situation is still lingering on it, with the whole football world watching in total disbelief.<\/p>\n The sad irony of his predicament was clearly manifested in the match against Alav\u00e9s, when cameras pulled in on Bale engaging in casual banter and joking with teammates, seemingly without a care in the world, Or even worse, actually feigning sleep with his face mask over his eyes.<\/p>\n Next up was in the match against Granada, where a reporter actually caught Bale spotting him, unbelievably peering through \u201cbinoculars\u201d made from a roll of medical tape and his free hand. It was as if Bale was saying \u201cGotch!\u201d <\/em>Then came the final coup de grace<\/em> against Villarreal, when a figure was spotted in the periphery right at the edge of the picture as Real Madrid was joyously celebrating becoming champions. The fact that he was actually in the picture itself spoke volumes as he, in contrast, was nowhere in the picture by the final game, as he was on holiday when Madrid faced Legan\u00e9s. Left out of the squad and basically a \u201ctechnical decision\u201d, Zidane had politely said then.<\/p>\n The awkward question had been posed to Zidane after the Villarreal game:<\/p>\n \u201cAfter all the off-field noise, do you think that it would be better for the dressing room for Bale to leave Madrid this summer?\u201d<\/p>\n Although the word \u201cyes\u201d was probably flickering in invisible neon lights, yet Zidane had the immaculate poise and demeanor of a UN diplomat and shot back:<\/p>\n \u201cWhat a question, man.\u201d<\/p>\n Bale, he countered, was \u201cone of us\u201d.<\/p>\n The following night presented a totally different perspective with the Welshman evidently an awkward, uneasy presence like a stick in the mud during the celebrations. And even more telling was when his teammates gave Zidane the victory bumps, the Real boss stood back, arms akimbo.<\/p>\n For Zidane to not join in the festivities wholeheartedly would have been too obvious and might have drawn censure from the team; joining in on the other hand with a big grin plastered on his face would have felt insincere and false. But a closer gaze would have shown that Zidane\u2019s slightly embarrassed, lost in transition, look told a tale all its own, with Bale in the thick of things as the agent provocateur.<\/p>\n The 2019-20 LaLiga title may have been Bale\u2019s seventh major medal at Madrid buth is was certainly achieved hardly any contribution on his part. Less than a month after Zidane had said it would be better if Bale had left, Madrid blocked the move to Jiangsu Suning, which left Zidane with no alternative but to put him in the team for the opening game at Celta.\u00a0Bale was actually a starter in six of the first eight fixtures, in fact. It wasn\u2019t as if there had been some major altercations involving him, yet something in the chain had been irretrievably broken, a vital link somewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019m playing happily,\u201d he himself professed, \u201cbut I am playing.\u201d<\/p>\n Soon, sadly though, he wasn\u2019t. He started once in October, November, December and January, twice in February and not at all in March.<\/p>\n To be fair in all honesty to Zidane, the Real boss had still turned to Bale in the big games, earnestly clinging to the hope of eliciting a positive reaction from his charge, and to create the awareness in Bale that there were things he could still do better than the rest of his teammates and could play an invaluable part in the squad. But his was not to be.<\/p>\n He started in Sevilleagainst Atl\u00e9tico and in the Cl\u00e1sico, as well as away at PSG. He featured again PSG at home and against Manchester City. But after the pandemic lockdown, Bale started only once. All in, he made 12 league starts and four sub appearances, played 124 minutes in the Champions League and 53 in the cup, scoring against third-tier Unionistas de Salamanca, with his only two league goals dating from 1 September.<\/p>\n Then, to exacerbate matters, there came the fallout from the infamous “Wales, Golf, Madrid’ banner,\u00a0which Bale had thought was funny while few others didn\u2019t. That 3-word phrase succinctly summed up in a nutshell his lack of commitment to Madrid, some said, with his golf clubs serving a better purpose as a stick with which to clobber him. Ouch!<\/p>\n A recalcitrant Bale ruefully opined that he had become a scapegoat. There was a lot of noice, including whistling from his own fans \u2013 which he couldn\u2019t understand. And yet slowly it fell quiet. When Zidane was asked \u201cabout all the noise\u201d recently, his reaction was driven partly by the sense it was artificially created. \u201cMadre mia,\u201d Zidane said, \u201cyou\u2019re trying to make a problem: you always ask the same question.\u201d This shows precisely the class and breeding of Zidane as the consumate diplomat and as a man of conscience. Not for him the accusative finger-pointing that would be better associated with a Jose Mourinho-type of character.<\/p>\n Just picture how massively ludicrous this actually is \u2013 the club\u2019s most expensive player, its best paid, and a self-created outcast totally devoid of motivation and the zeal that used to burn in him with fervor. No one has yet slammed anyone, perhaps it would have worked better as a catalyst to produce the desired reaction from Bale somehow. On some altruistic level, it\u2019s almost admirable as Bale\u2019s disposition, or more aptly his indisposition, hasn\u2019t inany way derailed Madrid from finishing their title race pursuit and endeavors.<\/p>\n Put bluntly, Bale\u2019s relevance in Madrid no longer exists. There are no recriminations, no hatred nor resentment from his teammates, and, sadly, there is no relationship either. The team and him would be better off apart, but it was the circumstance that kept them together somehow.<\/p>\n There is still some chatter buzzing around, with his agent Jonathan Barnett doing most of the talking, but on the whole it is now only a matter of fact with the situation being what it really is with no foreseeable redemption despite the conflict having achieved a calm by itself. Bale himself has not said anything, which does not necessarily infer that he\u2019s in a state of contentment. It might be a brave face he\u2019s just putting on at this juncture, but in reality it\u2019s like he\u2019s beyond it all now and resigned to his fate. Might as well just take it all in his stride, play the court jester and just try to mosey along with the routine of doing the routine training sessions, and then head home. Then repeat the drill daily.<\/p>\n If one were to indulge in taking a Freudian approach to it all, perhaps Bale\u2019s odd behavior this period is a trigger reaction latent in his subconscious to be provocative under the guise of being deliberately flippant, casual and playful. He feels wronged, that much has been made clear at least. Which could serve as a possible hint at there being some defiance from him, albeit well disguised, in an effort to deny his own plausibility and contrivance in the whole sordid affair. In one group picture from Valdebebas, he is pictured standing with teammates swinging an imaginary club. Mostly, they think it\u2019s funny too. The situation is truly sad but yet he is making it seem that he himself is not. The general tacit sentiment at the club is that \u201cladies and gentlemen, Gareth Bale has left the establishment\u201d. In short, the Welshman has checked out, yet still around. A mystifying paradox for sure.<\/p>\n When Zidane publicly welcomed Bale\u2019s departure last year, it was because he really thought he was going. Madrid, to serve their own financial purposes, reneged and pressed for a fee. The slap in the face they got is that the club is now are stuck in a most compromising situation with a player for whom hardly any clubs can afford to pay and who will cost almost \u20ac60m in salary to maintain over the next two years of his contract.<\/p>\n As for Bale himself, of course he would rather play as he\u2019s still only 31, loves his lifestyle in sunny Spain, so does his young family, and to top it all off – he is ridiculously well paid. So here he is, same like he was this time last year. But not the same for Madrid as a door had been fortuitously opened 12 months ago, but it is closed now.<\/p>\n \u201cBale is going nowhere,\u201d Barnett said.<\/p>\n Not anytime in the near future, that much is for sure.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"