The continued absences of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema would have have cost Real Madrid more were it not for the Welshman's inspiring form, writes Tim Stannard...
It’s been a tight-trousered, squeaky-voiced Bee Gees week at the Santiago Bernabéu with Real Madrid attempting to stay alive in both La Liga and the Champions League, despite the side’s attack being Harry Redknapp-style down-to-bare-bones.
Even James Rodríguez was forced into the starting line-up against Real Sociedad on Saturday, matters are that dire. And that is a true sign of the times considering the low opinion Zinedine Zidane appears to hold of the Colombian player.
Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema were sidelined at the weekend against la Real after suffering leg muscle problems. But despite this apparent handicap, Madrid are still in the running in both competitions. And this is thanks in part to Gareth Bale, who is currently having to earn his huge amount of corn by pulling the team through both campaigns.
Neither performances were particularly pretty up in the Etihad or San Sebastian, and only one goal was scored in two games. But the gritty results mean that Real Madrid will be favourites in the reverse fixture against Manchester City and are in a position to take advantage, should both Barcelona and Atlético Madrid slip up in the final two games in La Liga.
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What didn’t
Losing Ronaldo would be challenging enough, but also having Benzema sidelined at the business end of the campaign for Madrid is very bad news indeed. And there is no guarantee that either will be in action on Wednesday in Bernabéu against Manchester City.
The fact that a Castilla player, Borja Mayoral, led the line rather than Jesé against Real Sociedad in a still crucial league game suggests that Zidane is planning for the worst. And that’s not surprising considering stories of Ronaldo taking stem cells and clambering into his car through the boot after a visit to a Madrid clinic in the hunt for a miracle cure.
The other big worry line on Zidane’s footballing face is that Bale is not the most reliable figure in terms of fitness, with the Welshman only managing to start just over half of Madrid’s league games this season.
Quote of the week
“Very good” – the two words uttered by Ronaldo to waiting fans outside the team’s training ground on Sunday. And that’s the only topic that is going to matter to the Madridista massive ahead of Wednesday’s game.
The need-to-know facts
The headed effort from Bale saw Real Madrid racking up the team’s fourth-highest La Liga tally with 105. The record to beat is 121 from 2011-12. And that would be impressive, with two games left.
Real Madrid remain unbeaten away from home in 2016 in La Liga, a streak of 10 matches.
Bale has scored more headed goals than any other player in the top five European leagues this season, with nine.
Marca popped up with the headline of the week, although there was close competition during the week with the Rodriguez-concerned, Bond-themed “James – 000” effort. The winning entry from Sunday’s edition had praise for the "Prince of Bale-air" after another headed effort for Bale, the ninth of the season in a campaign in which he has racked up 19 goals from 22 league appearances.
But the flip side of that tremendous statistic is what the player and Madrid in turn could have produced, had the Welshman been fully fit through the whole campaign.
So the club must have taken fairly dim few of the footballer both going to a physiotherapist let go by the club last summer – ignoring the current medical team in the process – and even putting the image of the meeting on Instagram. It’s either a sign of impunity from Benzema or a stunning lack of judgement. Considering the footballer’s recent track record, a bit of both seems most likely.
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