Gareth Bale was the only Real Madrid player absent from the festivities on Saturday evening, as the club celebrated its 35th LaLiga title with a 4-0 win over Espanyol. The Welshman blamed a back spasm for his absence.
Real Madrid players and staff celebrated with their families on the pitch of the Bernabeu on Saturday evening, a 4-0 win over Espanyol and, as a consequence, their 35th LaLiga title. The entire squad was present inside the stadium to watch the selected eleven – and later, the substitutes – get the club over the line for the domestic crown, barring one player: Gareth Bale, whose contract expires in June.
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Marca claims that Bale, who was also left out of the squad list for the game, did not even make the trip to the stadium to sit in the stands. Later on, the player confirmed that he sat out the match because of a back spasm. However, as per the Spanish media, the attacker was the only Real Madrid player – injured or suspended – who refused to attend the ceremonious event.
“So disappointed that I’m not able to be part of the celebrations this evening due to a bad back spasm but really proud of the team for winning the title! Enjoy tonight boys!”
the 32-year-old wrote on Twitter.
Los Blancos are likely to hold further celebrations at the city’s infamous Cibeles fountain, as they do after each title win, but it remains to be seen if Bale will join the rest of the squad on that occasion.
Had he been present inside the stadium, he would have witnessed his successor on the win, Rodrygo Goes, tear down the Espanyol defence with two superb first-half goals. Marco Asensio, another one of Madrid’s wide attackers, added a third after the break, and Karim Benzema, as he had done countless times this season, added further gloss to the scoreline 10 minutes from time.
Despite missing the team’s celebrations, Bale is likely to receive another LaLiga winners’ medal after making the required number of appearances to become eligible for one.
