Why did Gareth Bale refuse to play for Real Madrid in the Champions League?

Coach Zinedine Zidane explained the reason for not summoning Gareth Bale to the list of Real Madrid players attending the match against Man City in the Champions League.

According to the Spanish press, the relationship between coach Zidane and Gareth Bale has escalated to the worst and completely irreconcilable.

In the list of Real Madrid players summoned for the second leg of the 1/8 Champions League round against Man City tonight, there is no Welsh star.

As explained by the French military leader, “Bale refused to come to Manchester when he knew he would not play”. 

During his pre-match press conference, Zidane faced five questions about Bale and he replied: “A lot has been said, but we have a respectful relationship between the club and the player. All I say is he (Bale) doesn’t want to play. The rest is between us and him ”.

Then Zidane added: “Bale did not disappoint me. I have great respect for Gareth and everything should take place in the dressing room between the players and the coach.

Meanwhile, Marca stated that the problem between Zidane and Bale was for personal rather than professional reasons. There is hardly any dialogue between the two. 

It is true that Bale does not disrespect the French coach, but many of his gestures in recent weeks have not satisfied Zidane, who put Bale “in a dead end” at Real Madrid after the Champions League final in Kiev.

Zidane’s return is not good news for Bale. Last summer, he almost had to leave, even Zizou himself admitted at a press conference. After all, the two continue to share the locker room, but the relationship not only does not improve, but it gets worse. 

With Real Madrid, Bale was not called up for the final La Liga match against Leganes and had not played a single minute in the previous six matches.