The banner is a laugh. And yet, importantly, the Welshman surely knows that most in Madrid wont find it funnyIt was Pedja Mijatovic who started it. One night on the radio, the former Real Madrid player and sporting director said he hadnt spoken to Gareth Bale but the impression he got was that his priorities were Wales, golf, and Madrid and in that order. That sounded pretty good to Wales fans, already on his side. Songs followed swiftly and so did the flags. One of them found its way on to the pitch and into the players hands as they celebrated reaching Euro 2020. Dancing about and grinning right behind it is Bale, enjoying the silliness of it all, the...
The situation at Real Madrid is baffling and does no credit to Bale or Zinedine Zidane, while Neymar and Laurent Koscielny have not enhanced their reputations this summer eitherIt has been a transfer window full of the usual long-running sagas and occasional surprises, but it does seem to have been a bad-tempered few months, with more than the usual number of players – as well as the occasional manager – trying to force moves in the most public and spiteful style. Related: Transfer deadline day live! Sessegnon, Sarr, Zaha, Lukaku, Carroll latest news Related: Transfer window 2019 – every summer deal from Europe's top five leagues Nouveau joueur, nouveau maillot, retrouvez-le dès maintenant ici https://t.co/6Jb2BRKbIo pic.twitter.com/eCfsGaSUYS Continue reading...
The Real Madrid winger’s dream has turned into a nightmare and he finds himself in the same boat as Özil and SánchezIn his documentary State of Play, an examination of the current wellbeing of football aired on BT Sport last week, Michael Calvin was granted an audience with Gareth Bale. He put it to the Real Madrid winger that Rory McIlroy, in whose company Calvin had spent quality time while embedded with Europe’s 2018 Ryder Cup team at the invitation of their captain, Thomas Bjorn, had told him that when you reach a certain level as an athlete or sportsman you can no longer retain that joy you had as an innocent kid. “Have you found that?” he asked Bale.“Yeah,...
The most successful British footballer of his era deserves better than the image of aloof corporate excellence he has exuded in Madrid, and still has time to add some deeper textureAt times it seems funny that we still call professional footballers “players”. Mischief, fun, mucking about: these are not the first qualities that spring to mind watching elite footballers at work, hyper-stressed, pattern-running units of human muscle, moving parts inside the world’s favourite leisure machine.And yet playfulness remains the base note of all successful sport. No matter how much we mess around with the product, it is the human qualities that emerge through the bars. Related: Luis Suárez scores twice as Barcelona beat Real Madrid to reach cup final Related:...
The Welshman was the match-winner off the bench but his two goals against Liverpool could prove to be a glorious farewellFor a moment there was silence and then there was a small smattering of applause. At the Liverpool end, they were stunned, and they were not alone. The goal that won the European Cup had to be watched twice and they still couldn’t believe it; even the replay on the giant screen didn’t entirely shake them out of it. For the second time, the second Real Madrid goal, they were left wondering whether that had really happened. The first goal was surreal, perhaps the stupidest the European Cup final has seen; the second was sublime, perhaps even the most brilliant....