Gareth Bale has been videoed playing golf in Madrid after requesting to be excluded from the Real Madrid matchday squad against Manchester City.
Madrid take on City in the second leg of their Round of 16 tie on Friday and are trailing 2-1 from the first leg, with the Welshman left out of the 24-man squad entirely.
🚨🚨 IMAGEN EXCLUSIVA @elchiringuitotv 🚨🚨
💣💥 Mientras Zidane da la charla en Mánchester, BALE juega al GOLF en Madrid. #JUGONES pic.twitter.com/5DMYtPWOGG
— El Chiringuito TV (@elchiringuitotv) August 7, 2020
Los Blancos boss Zinedine Zidane explained on Thursday that Bale had been excluded from the squad list as he “preferred not to play” and would not give any more information on the matter.
It was unlikely that Bale would start the game but it is still surprising that he decided not to include himself at all in the matchday squad, especially as suspended captain Sergio Ramos is on that list.
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.
