Former Real Madrid star Gareth Bale is rarely a subject that leaves Madridistas indifferent. The Welsh winger was enormously successful, scoring a series of brilliant goals, but his injury issues and inability to connect with the locals in Madrid left him shunned by the end of his time.
An individual character, former teammate Jermaine Jenas has revealed that Bale had a curious habit of eating an enormous meal before matches, consisting of baked beans on toast, as explained on TNT Sports on Tuesday evening.
"I remember Gareth Bale used to have five pieces of toast and a load of bakes beans before matches. I tried it once, but it didn't go too well for me."
Jermaine Jenas on Gareth Bale's pre-match meals (TNT Sports)#Spurs #RealMadrid pic.twitter.com/KZh8zv1qrF
— Football España (@footballespana_) January 24, 2024
It is a long way from what might be expected of an elite athlete in terms of nutrition, but Jenas did cross paths with Bale at Tottenham Hotspur and not Los Blancos. Before fans begin blaming his diet for his injury issues, there is a good chance he did so by that point. Jenas spent the last two years of Bale’s time at Spurs on loan, meaning at maximum, Bale would have been 22 at the time. Over the past decade, nutrition has taken on far more importance than they once had too.