BALE INJURY THREATENS CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HOMECOMING
THE Champions League homecoming dream for Gareth Bale could be under threat following the injury he suffered during Sunday’s El Clasico clash between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The Welsh talisman is set to miss Real Madrid’s run-in to the Euro final – being played in Cardiff on June 3 – after limping off with a calf injury in his side’s defeat against their bitter rivals.
Bale departed in the 39th minute of Los Blancos’ 3-2 La Liga defeat, a result that saw Barcelona move above Real Madrid in the table on goal difference.
The club yesterday released a statement confirming that the Wales star suffered a grade two calf injury in the game at the Bernabeu.
A club statement read: “Following the tests carried out on Gareth Bale by the Sanitas Medical Services, the player has been diagnosed with a grade two injury in his left calf.
“His recovery will continue to be assessed.”
He is now set to miss both legs of Real Madrid’s Champions League semi-final against local rivals Atletico Madrid and could miss out on a home final at the Principality Stadium if Zinedine Zidane’s men progess from the last four.
Real Madrid manager Zidane said: “I hope he’s back before the end of the league season.
“It’s not too serious, but we’ll see how it goes day-to-day.
“We can’t avoid these kind of things when you get injured.
“A player wants to play, and I know this from my experience. When you have a long injury and come back, it’’s difficult. It’s not the same. You’re OK to begin with and when you train every day it’s more difficult.
“I hope it’s nothing serious with Gareth. He’s injured, but it’s not too serious and hopefully he will be back soon.
“You don’t like to risk footballers, you try and speak to them and tell them it’s better to wait until they’re 100%.
“I’d do the same thing again. He was training OK without any problems. This happened and we couldn’t avoid this.
“The important thing is to be open between him and me and I trust in everything the player is telling me.”
The Welshman has struggled with injuries this season and missed three months of action after suffering an ankle injury in Real’s Champions League win against Sporting Lisbon in November.
He scored after just 13 minutes of his return from injury in a 2-0 win over Espanyol, but was sent off in his side’s 3-3 draw with Las Palmas just weeks before Wales’ 0-0 draw with Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
He is suspended for Wales’ next World Cup qualifier against Serbia on June 11 having picked up a yellow card in the Dublin encounter, his second booking of the qualifying campaign.
Zidane’s men host their city rivals Atletico in the first leg of the semifinals on May 2 before playing the return leg at the Vicente Calderon eight days later.
Los Blancos end their domestic campaign against Malaga on May 21, with the Champions League final in the Welsh capital possibly still to come.