Welsh national team manager Chris Coleman surprised everyone by naming Gareth Bale in the squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. This was despite the fact that the world’s most expensive player has had very little first-team football in the last few months. Bale made the £ 86 million move to Real Madrid in the hope of being the best player in the world, but his first few months at the Spanish club has been curtailed by injury problems. Ancelotti gave him the debut against Villarreal even though he was not fit to play. Since then, he has suffered recuperations and has not played well at all.
He has been ruled out for the next few weeks after suffering a thigh injury in the 1-0 defeat against Atletico Madrid. Despite this, he was included in the Welsh squad for the World Cup qualifiers, but his name was removed a few hours later. Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that the player will not be travelling to join up with his international teammate. Instead, he will spend the next 15 years at Madrid’s training centre in the hope of recovering from the injury problems. Many have been criticising the club for giving him a debut much sooner than his fitness would have suggested.
“He’ll stay here to train for 15 days. We have to co-ordinate with Wales but I think he’ll stay here. That way he’ll be ready for the match against Malaga after the break,” said Ancelotti. Bale scored on his debut for Madrid, but since then he has featured in occasional appearances. He has not been effective at all and it is largely because of the lack of fitness. Madrid have also had a poor start to the league season. They are already five points behind leaders Barcelona after just eight matches in the season.