Ancelotti explains why Bale didn’t join either of Real Madrid’s celebrations
Real Madrid have had a lot to celebrate in the past week, having secured the LaLiga Santander title last Saturday before producing a miracle comeback to eliminate Manchester City from the Champions League, setting up a date with Liverpool in Paris. After both of those wins, Los Blancos’ players went out to celebrate in the Spanish capital, but Gareth Bale excused himself from both events.
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When this was brought up during Carlo Ancelotti’s pre-derby press conference, the Italian defended the Welshman and explained that Bale would have been there if he could have been.
Dismissing the suggestions that the 32-year-old is increasingly distant from his teammates, Ancelotti replied: “All the players like Bale and he likes them. If he wasn’t there then it’s because he couldn’t be there. If you have a problem in the back, it’s difficult to move. It’s happened to me. The fact he wasn’t at these events was because he couldn’t move, not because he is distant from the rest of the squad.”
🎙| Ancelotti: "Bale? All the players love him and Bale love them. He can't train due to his back pain, he can't even move."
— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) May 7, 2022
Gareth Bale’s 2021/22 stats
Even players who have featured far less than Bale this season were at the parties held to celebrate the title and the passage to the Champions League final. The Welshman may only have featured in seven matches for a total of 290 minutes and one goal, but he has featured more than backup goalkeeper Andriy Lunin and backup centre-back Jesús Vallejo, who both joined in the celebrations.
Bale, of course, has experienced much higher highs in his career and has contributed much more to previous Real Madrid triumphs. But, he did play an important role at the start of the season when several players were missing through injury or post-Euro 2020 rest. He started each of the first three games of the season and scored in the second match of the campaign, helping to get Los Blancos off to a fast start.
We’ll soon see whether or not Bale features in the Champions League final against Liverpool, four years after he was the star man in the Kyiv final between those two sides. Even if he doesn’t play and Real Madrid win, it’ll be interesting to see if he joins in what would be his final celebration as a Real Madrid player.
