INCREDIBALE

Jose: Gareth is a great team guy... and he’s ready to fly

Bale in training – where Jose says the data shows he is grafting

JOSE MOURINHO claims Gareth Bale is ready for takeoff and admitted he is jealous of the Welshman’s Champions League record.

The on-loan Real Madrid star will start his second match in his second Spurs spell against Royal Antwerp tonight.

Bale, 31, made a rusty return in the Europa League last week and sat on the bench at Burnley on Monday.

But Mourinho insisted the Wales forward, who arrived with a knee injury, is now fit and firing.

“Bale i s p l a y i n g ,” the Tottenham boss said before facing the Belgian l eague leaders. “He is improving, he is improving a lot and I think tomorrow we can see Gareth at a good level and hopefully he can f ly because he is working very hard.

“We all have, not just the feeling, but also the data that Bale is arriving.

“He is being quite a great example for everybody. A big guy like him , travelled to Burnley, stayed on the bench for 90 minutes, didn’t play one minute. His behaviour as a team guy is incredible.

“I can see just with my eyes but then the scientific data is also coming and he is working very, very well.”

Bale admitted after the opening win over LASK last week that he felt “loved and appreciated” back in north London after an unhappy ending to his Real Madrid career.

The golf-loving Welshman left Spain with a low handicap – and a reputation for staying a par-five away f rom his team-mates.

“One thing is reputation, another thing is facts,” former

Real Madrid head coach Mourinho said. “I would love to have his reputation and four Champions Leagues. I have only two. The facts with Gareth are that he made a difference at that club.

“I think he is very pleased with the level of organisation we have in the club. Probably, he is not used to it.”

Belgium is a coronavirus hotspot with all restaurants, cafes and bars closed and a night-time curfew between midnight and 5am.

But asked if European football could be curtailed, Mourinho said: “I prefer myself, if that is the case, to take a few risks, but play football and do my job and give people what they love, which is football.”

Gareth Bale to score first

PUTTING THE WORK IN