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What’s the story?
Zinedine Zidane's comments on Gareth Bale after Real Madrid's loss to Bayern Munich in a friendly game have caused a lot of commotion, and amid all the criticism, the Frenchman has come out and clarified his stance over the whole fiasco as he believes his comments were misinterpreted.
He has claimed not to have disrespected anyone, and that his Spanish has often 'caused mischief'.
In case you didn’t know...
The Spanish giants are currently on a pre-season tour in the United States of America and, Los Blancos were beaten comprehensively by Bayern Munich on Saturday, and Bale spent the entirety of the match in the stands. The Welshman did not even make it to the bench.
Zidane, in his post game interview, then issued statements implying that the former Tottenham star was snubbed as he was close to leaving the club in the coming days.
The heart of the matter
After facing a whole lot of criticism from all over for disrespecting Bale, Zidane has come out and cleared the air, as he said:
"It's true that sometimes my Spanish causes mischief, but I want to be clear."
"First, I have not disrespected anyone, especially a player of ours. I always say the same thing. The players are most important and I will always be with my players.
"Second, I said the club were trying to sell the player, nothing more.
"And third, Bale didn't get ready for the game became he didn't want to as the club were trying to sort out his future.
"Now let's go back to the start. He is a Real Madrid player, nothing has changed.
"He will train normally, and tomorrow is tomorrow so we will see what happens.
"You know the situation and you know what is happening with the club. Gareth is a player in the Real Madrid team.
"That's the most important thing. I'm not at all uncomfortable working with Bale. I will count on him once more."
Bale's agent, Jonathan Barnett, also slammed Zidane, calling him a 'disgrace'. Now that the Frenchman has come out and clarified his statements, the issue could be resolved soon.
What's next?
Real Madrid play Unai Emery's Arsenal in their second pre-season game on Tuesday in Washington. It remains to be seen whether Bale will play a part, but it certainly appears to be the end of the road for the Welshman in the Spanish capital.
