Few players, if any, have received quite as much attention as Gareth Bale this international break.
Following a brutally critical editorial in Marca earlier last week, the article went viral for comparing Bale to a parasite. The Welshman then went onto star for his country, scoring twice against Austria in a World Cup qualifier play-off. Bale then took to Twitter to call out the newspaper for their harsh words.
A large part of the scrutiny Bale has endured from Madrid press and fans centres around his exclusion from the Real Madrid squad in their 4-0 defeat to Barcelona – supposedly with an injury. After seeing Bale play 90 minutes for Wales just four days later, many Madridistas were left confused as to the state of his fitness.
However Wales manager Robert Page did hint that Bale is not 100% fit at any rate. He told the media that Bale wouldn’t be starting in their friendly against the Czech Republic, as reported by Mundo Deportivo.
“He had 95 tough minutes against Austria. Tomorrow we will decide if he is in the squad or not. He won’t play from the start.”
Bale has a groin problem, although it’s not clear how serious the issue is.
Image via Dan Mullan/Getty Images
