Is Gareth Bale Back To This Best?

Real Madrid were fantastic against Celta Vigo on Saturday. Los Blancos banged six goals past goalkeeper Sergio Álvarez, as the last home match of the season ended in a 6 - 0 victory. One of those who impressed most in this game was Gareth Bale, who scored a brace. The Welshman scored the first goal of the match when he ran past Celta left-back Jonny Castro, and slotted it in near post. It was also Castro who suffered again when Bale scored his second goal of the evening — touching the ball past the left back and smashing the ball in the top corner behind Álvarez from a tough, acute angle with a powerful shot.

The scenario now is that Bale is playing for both his future at Real Madrid, as well as a spot in the starting eleven against Liverpool in Kyiv. The 28-year-old isn’t a undisputed starter in Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid side anymore, and he knows that he has to fight to start the most important game of the season. Isco is the one who’s stolen Bale’s spot in the team, and it seemed only fitting that the Spanish midfielder also scored in the same 6-0 trashing. The former Málaga player curled the ball in the top corner from around 20 yards out.

Gareth Bale also scored in last weekend’s Clásico when he secured a point for Los Blancos, while Isco had been struggling with a shoulder injury since the first game against Bayern Munich. The Welshman’s form in the recent weeks has set fire to the debate whether or not he should start the final against Liverpool, and Bale himself seems obsessed with starting the final after last season’s troubling end.

Against Juventus, in his hometown Cardiff, Bale had to start the game on the bench. The winger had been struggling with a calf injury for well over a month, and he admitted later that he had to take a lot of pain killers to play at the business-end of last season. This season Bale has also struggled with injuries, with another calf injury keeping him out for almost two months from the end of September. But the winger has been fit since the FIFA Club World Cup, and it has been poor performances that has prevented him from starting in important games against Juventus and Bayern Munich.

Bale knows that he is playing for both his Real Madrid future as well as a spot in the starting XI in the Champions League final. Isco is the favorite to start the match, but with Bale’s counter-strengths and good defensive contributions. it could be a good idea to start the Welshman. Perhaps Bale’s performances have come a bit late for Zinedine Zidane, as it’s expected that the Frenchman will start the same starting eleven as he did in Cardiff against Juventus.

Gareth Bale is Real Madrid’s second top scorer in LaLiga with his 15 goals in 25 games, behind Cristiano Ronaldo with 25 goals. With good performances against both Barcelona and Celta Vigo, Gareth Bale will need another solid performance in the last league game of the season at the Madrigal this weekend. Real Madrid face Villarreal with one week to go for the Champions League final, and if Gareth Bale impresses again, perhaps he will get a starting spot in Kyiv on the 26^th of May.