LA LIGA - Real Madrid boss Ancelotti on Gareth Bale

Commenting upon 32-year old Welsh international winger Gareth Bale's troubles in setting himself back into Real Madrid ranks, Blancos boss, Carlo Ancelotti, stated:

“Bale trained with the whole group today, but won't be in the squad because he hasn't trained a lot with the team. He's going to go to Wales and they will assess whether he's fit or not. It'll be down to how the player trains there. Bale is fine and it's clear that it's very important that he feels right training after two months out and whether he's feeling confident. That happens to players when they come back.

I’m not his father. Some fans might not be happy with Bale, but that may be because things haven’t gone so well recently. Last season he was on loan at Tottenham, but nobody should forget what he’s done here. He helped us to win the Champions League and the Copa del Rey in 2014 and he helped us to win the Champions League against Liverpool. Real Madrid fans will never forget that. He’s not in his finest moment here, but we have to keep the faith. He’s had a bad injury, but now he’s back. He’ll be with the national team and if he’s in good condition when he returns and deserves to play, then he’ll play.

If a player is called up by their national team, we have the obligation to let them go and to inform them of their current condition, like the fact that he’s been given the go ahead or has been training for two days with the team. They’ll be playing next Saturday and will have time to assess his condition. I don’t think either Wales or the player will take the risk of playing if he’s not right.

He’s been cleared to play because if he trains with the team it means he’s fully fit and can train. We can't tell the national team that he can't play because it's something objective. He had a scan where he’d fully recovered, and then the national team has to evaluate whether he can play or not”.