Bale refuses to play against Manchester City
Gareth Bale’s name is not included in the Real Madrid squad list to travel to the Etihad Stadium this weekend. Well it turns out, Bale’s absence is due to his own will as told by Zidane.
The Spanish La Liga champions will indeed travel to Manchester City headquarters to play the second leg of the last 16 of the European Champions League. The match is planned to be held on Saturday morning WIB tomorrow (8/08).
Zinedine Zidane’s troops have a harder task, because they are behind on aggregate after losing 1-2 in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
In other words, Madrid must win by a two-goal margin if they are to advance to the last eight. Of course to achieve this tough mission, Zidane needs the best squad.
But interestingly, Bale’s name is not included in the list of Los Blancos players for the match later. However, coach Zinedine Zidane emphasized that this happened because the player himself refused to play in the match.
“I will explain because there has been a lot of talk spread. We have mutual respect between the players and the coach, that’s clear,”
“The only thing I can say is that he chose not to play, and the rest is just for me and him,” he said in his pre-match press conference, quoted by Goal International.
But Zidane was reluctant to mention the reason behind Bale’s refusal, because it was only a matter between him and the player.
“I have answered about the situation. The rest of the chat is for the player and the coach, and I will not tell you,” he added.
But what can be said now is that Bale is still a Real Madrid player, Zidane respects his refusal.
“Gareth Bale is a Real Madrid player, nothing has changed. I respect that. He chose not to play. Everyone here is focused on facing the match tomorrow,” he concluded.
Reportedly, Bale refused to play against Manchester City because he planned to move clubs in the transfer market this summer. There are also those who claim that their attendance is suspected of wanting to watch the Golf Championship.