Gareth Bale

Another Real Madrid game yesterday, another game Gareth Bale started on the bench. 

But this wasn’t just another game; this was the second leg of the Champions League semifinals. For Real Madrid, this was the most important game of the season. It’s the only trophy they still have a chance to win. The fact Gareth Bale started this game on the bench and didn’t even play at all in the first leg is telling. It’s telling no matter what Zinedine Zidane tells you.

In the midst of a huge clash with Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinals, Real Madrid rested a number of its regular starters for a home match against Leganes, mired in 16th place in LaLiga. The result was an uninspiring 2-1 win for Los Blancos on Saturday at the Bernabeu, one in which the visitors easily could’ve nipped a draw. The Gareth Bale goal vs Leganes was a perfect microcosm of the match for Real Madrid.

Sitting fourth in La Liga and bounced in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals, Real Madrid heads into Wednesday’s Champions League Round of 16 first leg tie against Paris Saint-Germain a wounded animal. 

A trip to the Balaidos in Galicia is never tepid waters — Barcelona were made to weather their own storm in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula on Thursday in a frantic 1-1 Copa del Rey Round of 16 draw — and Celta Vigo again showcased their formidable home fortress in a 2-2 La Liga draw with Real Madrid on Sunday. 

Gareth Bale made his return from another injury layoff with an exquisite assist for Real Madrid, but goalkeeper Keylor Navas’ ricocheted blunder may have overshadowed Bale’s attempted heroics. Real Madrid drew 2-2 against Fuenlabrada in the second leg of their Copa del Rey Round of 32 match on Tuesday, advancing 4-2 on aggregate as the club’s (relative) struggles continued this season.