LEAVE BALE ALONE
Real boss vows to keep star out of United reach
CARLO ANCELOTTI will fight to keep Gareth Bale at Real Madrid and out of the clutches of Manchester United this summer, it emerged last night.
Real boss Ancelotti faces his own battle to survive at the Bernabeu at the end of this season but has already told club president Florentino Perez that Bale should not be sold under any circumstances.
the Wales international — on United’s list of targets for the summer — has endured a difficult second season at Real. He was heavily criticised across Spain yesterday for another poor display as the holders lost their Champions League semifinal first leg 2-1 at Juventus. Bale’s modest efforts drew stinging criticism from itV analyst Roy Keane, who said the former tottenham star had been so poor that Real had been left playing with 10 men. that, in turn, brought a stinging rebuke from Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett yesterday.
Away from all this, though, it is understood Ancelotti’s faith in Bale remains absolute. the veteran italian coach has already attributed tuesday’s poor performance to injuries and believes Bale will return to
GARETH BALE is determined to ride out the storm at Real Madrid despite criticism for his ‘no-show’ against Juventus on Tuesday night.
The world’s most expensive player believes his Real Madrid team-mates Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo can serve as role models — both having endured long spells of criticism before being accepted.
But despite his determination to succeed, his second year is in danger of turning into a nightmare.
And with Manchester United and Chelsea ready to take him back to the Premier League, all eyes will be on Wednesday’s second leg against Juventus, to see if an inspired comeback takes Madrid to Berlin.
Defeat would leave them on the point of collapse with everyone looking for a scapegoat.
The zero match-rating for Bale in yesterday’s Madrid papers were to be expected. The Spanish sports press have hammered him in the past when he hasn’t deserved it, so when he really went missing in a big game there was always going to be no holding back.
Roy Keane’s comments that Real had been playing with 10 men were lapped up by those questioning Bale’s application as much as his football.
Diario AS said of his display: ‘He didn’t score and he didn’t sweat’, adding that a player of his ‘ privileged position in the dressing room’ has to display at the very least a desire to make an impact on the game.
That ‘ privileged position’ comment was especially stinging. It refers to Real manager Carlo Ancelotti’s insistence in the past that Bale will always play no matter how he performs. It was a comment that left him looking like the favourite son who can do no wrong. It did him no favours with fans or in the dressing room.
The swipe at how much he sweated for the cause was backed up by UEFA statistics that suggested Bale had run 9.7km on Tuesday night, while 35-year- old Andrea Pirlo ran 11.8km for Juventus.
Real Madrid as a team ran 7.7km less than Juventus but ground covered was hardly the biggest issue. The team looked disjointed and confused. Bale, in a central striking position, looked as lost as he has at any time since he arrived at the start of last season.
The automatic selection of Bale that Ancelotti referred to owed as much to his matchwinning performances last season as his huge price tag.
He has handled his record breaking £86million transfer fee well until now. But the Spanish press have gone from declaring that he paid back all the money he cost with vital goals in the Copa del Rey and in the Champions League finals, to picking holes in his performances.f And,d slowlyl l and d surely, it has been sinking in with Bale that he is the player all the fingers are pointing at.
When he scored twice against Levante in March he put his hands over his ears just to let the boo-boys know what he
thought of the recent whistles and jeers. It was the first time he had reacted to the animosity and it was a sign that they were finally getting to him.
Bale described last season’s 4- 0 demolition of Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena at the semi- final stage of the Champions League as Real Madrid’s ‘best performance’.
This year they have saved their worst display of the campaign for the equivalent fixture and they now have to overturn a first leg reverse — something they have never done in a European Cup semi-final in seven attempts.
The player’s co- existence with Ronaldo has also been more difficult in his second season. Ronaldo did him no favours with some extravagant protests during the win against Espanyol in January when he did not receive a pass from the Welshman.
Bale remains intent on making things work in the Spanish capital. He loves the sunshine, the Spanish ham, and is comfortable with the spotlight shining mainly on the Spanish speaking stars.
He is one of two players in the squad who tend to stay away from meeting up off the pitch. Toni Kroos is the other and while it hasn’t helped Bale that he doesn’t mix socially, nor should it be a game changer.
For now Bale’s desire to stay has been matched by Florentino Perez’s will to keep him at the club. The Real Madrid president’s most expensive acquisition delivered the
Decima last season and he has always seen him as a natural heir to Ronaldo’s crown.
But Perez is a populist and a shrewd businessman. If a club, such as Manchester United, were to offer him the chance to make a profit after just 24 months — and the club’s fans were in favour of such a deal — then the decision would be Bale’s to make.