After returning to action in style with a goal in Real Madrid’s latest thumping home win, Gareth Bale admitted he found his latest spell on the sidelines tough to endure.
The flying Welshman, who has endured an injury-hit campaign, appeared from the bench for the final 25 minutes of Saturday’s 7-1 thrashing of Celta Vigo, and rounded off a bright display down the left wing with a well-taken goal to complete the scoring.
He said: “I’m very happy after a few difficult weeks. It was frustrating to be out for six weeks. It is great to come back, play and score, but the most important thing is the three points.”
Bale is now targeting a place in the starting line-up for Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 second leg clash at home to Roma, with Los Blancos leading 2-0 on aggregate.
But he stopped short of putting pressure on boss Zinedine Zidane to pick him from the start, saying: “I’ve spent four days training with my team mates. Now I have to train well and keep improving.”
Bale received a warm welcome from the Bernabeu fans, who have not always been quite so appreciative of his talents during his rather mixed two-and-a-half years in Spain.
And Bale expressed his gratitude for the standing ovation he was given when he emerged from the bench, adding: “It is great to have this support. We want to go forward together and with our fans we can achieve great things this season.”
Despite the lop-sided scoreline, it was a game of two halves for Madrid as they struggled during the opening period and were fortunate to lead 1-0 at the break through Pepe’s powerful header before running riot in the second half.
Bale said: “At the break we spoke about playing faster in the second half and trying to score quickly. The most important thing was to keep boosting the team’s confidence and play well.”
