Whatever the opposite of a media darling is, that what Gareth Bale is in Madrid. Once again the local press were irate after the Welshman failed to attend the celebrations as Los Blancos secured the La Liga title last weekend – the only one of the squad not to do so.
Bale released a tweet shortly after, expressing his disappointment and explaining that his absence was due to injury but that didn’t entirely satisfy the press either.
Speaking ahead of the Madrid derby on Saturday, his manager Carlo Ancelotti defended Bale and disputed the idea his player was a cold personality.
“Everyone has affection for Bale. He wasn’t there because he couldn’t move. It happened to me, when your back is blocked you can’t move. If he is fine, he trains with us.”
“It’s not that he’s distant, it’s that he can’t move.”
Ancelotti made the comments to Diario AS, but the relationship does appear to be coming to an end. The Welshman’s contract is up at the end of the season and with no sign of a new one on the horizon, it’s worth wondering if he’s played his final match for Real Madrid.