Gareth Bale has endured another difficult season for Real Madrid this campaign but is eyeing a decisive role in the club’s Champions League campaign.
The Welshman has been a peripheral figure at Los Blancos this season and had been an unused substitute for five successive games before being left out of the matchday squad entirely in the final game against Leganes earlier this month.
Indeed, Bale has been in the headlines for his actions as a substitute recently – appearing to be sleeping during the win over Alaves while mimicking to be using binoculars from the stands in the recent triumph over Granada.
However, a report in Diario AS outlines how Bale is drawing comparisons to his role in the latter stages of the competition two years ago.
At that stage, the former Tottenham star had drifted out of favour under Zinedine Zidane but played a decisive role as a substitute in the final – coming off the bench before netting twice in the win over Liverpool, including a spectacular overhead kick.
Bale has played just 1,261 minutes this campaign – the lowest of his stint in the Spanish capital – and has missed 13 games through injury while he was overlooked by Zidane on a further 16 occasions.
Madrid take on Manchester City in the second leg of their Round of 16 tie, and are trailing 2-1 from the first leg.
