BALE FEELING GOOD BACK IN WALES CAMP – GIGGS
RYAN Giggs says Gareth Bale felt the best he has done for a long time during the international break.
The 31-year-old has been frozen out by Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid and has featured just twice for the 2019/20 La Liga champions since lockdown.
Ahead of Wales’ first outings of the year, Bale revealed his frustrations at not being allowed to leave the Spanish giants last summer.
The forward played 45 minutes in Wales’ 1-0 win over Finland in Helsinki before performing for the duration of his country’s 1-0 triumph over Bulgaria in Cardiff.
Bale’s showing against the Bulgarians was his first 90-minute appearance since Real Madrid beat Getafe 3-0 in January.
And Giggs has revealed that Bale was able to enjoy his football again after linking up with his international team mates.
“He felt a lot better,” said the Wales boss.
“That first 45 minutes on Thursday did him good. As you can expect, two days’ training and going into a tough away international game, it was always going to be hard for him physically.
“But he recovered well. Speaking to him in the last couple of days, it was the best he has felt for a long time. I think he showed that by doing the 90 minutes and the desire he showed to do that.
“I would never question Gareth’s professionalism and the way he looks after himself.”
Wales are top of their Nations League group having claimed back-to-back wins in the competition in the first international break of the 2020/21 season.
It means Giggs’ men are now unbeaten in eight matches, with Wales winning their last four on the spin without conceding a goal.
And Bale admits he was pleased to last the entirety of the victory against Bulgaria.
“The last game I was struggling, I had only three days of training before but those 45 minutes did me well and I was happy to get through 90 minutes,” Bale told Sky Sports.
Wales face England in a friendly at Wembley next month before facing Republic of Ireland and Bulgaria in the Nations League.