Real cope fine with Bale out
MADRID – Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane believes he has no need to rush Gareth Bale back from a long-term ankle injury as the European champions extended their lead at the top of La Liga on Sunday.
Madrid saw off Real Sociedad 3-0 thanks to goals from Mateo Kovacic, Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata to open up a fourpoint lead on Barcelona and Sevilla with a game in hand over their title rivals.
Bale has been out since suffering ankle ligament damage in November and is not expected to return before March.
However, Zidane is hopeful of having Luka Modric and James Rodriguez back for Real’s next outing at Celta Vigo at the weekend.
“Our idea to is to have Luka back next week. We will see [how he is] on Tuesday [today] and the same goes for James,” said Zidane. “Gareth will take a while longer.” Bale is expected to miss Real’s Champions League last 16, first leg clash with Napoli on February 15 with the Welshman possibly making a return in time for the return leg on March 7.
Madrid had begun to miss the Welshman’s presence as they won just one of their five previous games before Sociedad’s visit. That run included elimination at the hands of Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals, but Zidane admitted missing out on two more matches over the next fortnight could prove a blessing for his injury-hit squad. –