Deserves a spot at the top of the forum even if its just for a few minutes. One more game to go bro. I predict Bale giving us the CL again with his goal. But for the sake of unity, i hope Ronaldo scores one at least.

Injured

Not injured just taking time out to fully recover. If Ronaldo was not available he would have played against Valencia. But since Ronaldo is back he can afford to take the time off to fully recover from his injury

If he's not training, he's injured.  Nobody holds players from training unless something is wrong.

We'll see if he trains.

Not really players frequently stay in the gym after games only to get picked the day after to play in a game. Happens frequently in our team

day after... sure.  But let's see if the lack of training continues today, etc.  You just don't hold guys out of training for more than the day after a game (if that) unless there's something wrong.

Pretty sure Zidane doesn't want to set the precedent where players can take time off from training as they want.  That sets a poor example for the rest of the squad.  In fact, I've never heard of it.

Bale has come such a long way, from the one tricky pony he was in his first 2 seasons to this complete player he is today. If only there was a striker in our box that could put away his crosses he'd have so many assists right now. And his headers ffs, he could put them in from outside the box. Hope we win CL this season with Bale being a prominent part. People think he's bad because he doesn't score as much as Ronaldo but little do they know how unselfish he has become who gets overjoyed when his teammates score and tracks back like prine ADM (nearly)

Only someone who really dislikes him, like on a real emotional level, would still consider him a "bad player". I was a very stern critic of him, thought he was one of the worst wingers to play in La Liga (genuine thought). However, the man has really improved a lot in his football which makes my earlier opinion look foolish since for someone to improve in that short space of time, clearly he was never a bad footballer. Just in an environment he was not accustom to and didn't adjust as fast as I would like.

His crosses, like Di Maria, are really good and unless Morata happens to start or Ramos stays forward, usually ends up just looking dangerous and not really being dangerous. Ronaldo may be in the centre and have forward on the team sheet but he never plays like one. Benzema is too busy being injured because reasons and he also is just CF by team sheet.

He is very classy too. Never see any petulence and is genuinly a really nice person. I know as a team we have looked very lethargic in the last couple of games but anything good in the attacking always has his name engraved on it. I liked how we played when Bale was the focal point of attack. It's about time his partners got on the same wavelength as him. I remember when Ronaldo had to play with the reserves, he complained that he wanted to play with the 1st teamers yet Bale thrived with those players

He was steadily starting to become our focal point since 2nd half last season, you know, after we realised Rafa was a huge mistake. Whatever Zidane's tactics or "tactics" maybe, I reckon Bale is gonna pull his fat out of the fire a lot this season.

As for the other two not on his wave length, at least we can explain it. Both were injured for a while (one in an actual football match, the other for being fat) so they'll take some time to get into gear. Ronaldo's 4 goal performance is something to at least ease my mind a lil, heard Benny got really good at Smash Brothers.

Bale has suffered an ankle injury, Real Madrid has confirmed.

He "dislocated both of the peroneal tendons in his right ankle" and is out for 3 weeks (at the very least) and is definitely out of the El Classico.

Bale must completely rest for the next three weeks and depending on his progress, doctors will assess whether he will require surgery. If his condition does not improve after conservative, non-invasive
treatment, Bale will need to unedergo an operation and could be out for between six to eight weeks.

Feel sorry for the lad

en.as.com/en/2016/11/23/football/1479913966_517471.html

Our best forward now out

That's Bale, Morata, Kroos, Pepe and maybe Casemiro out of the Clasico. It goes from one adversity to another for ZZ lol

But Barca have Neymar, Suarez and Messi. Their bench is absolute ass but their 3 forwards are insane when they click.

Anyway, Bale being injured doesn't surprise me. Like Benzema, he has a lovely knack of getting injured when you really need him.

I find that news hard to believe. It just looked like a knock tbh.

Bale requires surgery so will be out for 2-3 months. Time for Lucas to step in

Interesting. Lucas would be on the right but I wonder if Zidane would decide to use James on the left.

Same James that was benched vs sporting? More like now he has a chance to come off the bench

Yup, that same James who has found himself behind Asensio. Honestly, would not mind seeing how it work because I reckon it would be Benzema who be slotted back into that position.

And we all know how much fun that is.

nothing to see here folks, i always say with bale we should make plans ahead for when (not if) he gets injured because he will get his regular dose of major injuries during the course of the season, its like getting surprised that it gets cold on the east coast during winter.....we signed a man of glass, which is why i've always said i still don't believe he's worth 100 mill

@futbol_bill, it could be a range of factors, i've always been against blaming this solely on the medical team because a club the stature of real madrid that signs players for the prices we do won't hire scrubs or interns as physios or to run the medical team. my conclusion is, even the best medical expert won't make an injury prone player be injury free forever. the best they can do is, probably improve recovery times and ensure successful operations. sadly this will probably not be his last injury this season

Bale's speed and his already basic understanding of the full back position really is a genuine help when it comes to defending the left flank with Marcelo so I totally agree with you there Senior Futbol.

Basically, Zidane is gonna have to switch up formations yet again or bank on Benzema to put in a real defensive shift on the left. Pretty certain he is gonna start in the Clasico.

benzema's a center forward, why would he be tasked with putting a defensive shift down the left? he is not a left winger, whoever plays down the left will have to do that if that is indeed what zidane wants. but asking the cf to put a defensive shift down the left hand side is not productive. let the cf stay in front and make runs, it disrupts the shape telling him to start helping the left back, when there's a left winger there already

I don't know, I really envision seeing Ronaldo as the CF and Benzema as a left forward with the task of "helping out" the full back. Also, we don't actually have a left winger outside Bale so this would be rather interesting to see what Zidane would do.

This has nothing to do with Sporting this weekend btw. More to do with Dortmund and Barcelona.

why would benzema move to the left? he's not a left winger/left forward....there was a time for france when he hugged unto the left hand side so much (for whatever reason) that it was detrimental to his play, i think at euro 2012. he's not moving to lw, it doesn't make much sense to ask him to make such a shift, not on paper nor in reality...i could be wrong, but i just don't see that happening, nor do i see the necessity in asking the cf to start playing out wide