Zinedine Zidane has said he was now looking for “regular games” from Gareth Bale, after the fit again galactico marked his first start in four months with a goal in Thursday’s 3-0 Copa del Rey last 16 first leg win at Segunda side Numancia.
“It was important to see how [Bale] felt,” Zidane told the post-game news conference. “In the end he played an hour, without problems, feeling physically well. He had played four games with 20 or 30 minutes [off the bench], this was his first start. So we will continue like this. We want him to play regularly now.”
“I am very happy as we got a good result in the end,” he said. “This was not an easy place to come, they have been playing well and made it tough for us, but we got a good result. Many of these are players who do not play so often. In the second half we had some problems, above all when they were down to 10. But in general I am happy. We managed to get three goals, kept a clean sheet, so I am happy for those who played.”
“Borja is an importnat player in the squad,” the former galactico said. “Every time I can, I will pick him.
But there are many players in this squad who do not get so many minutes. They must be patient, work hard, and every time they get a chance they need to participate and battle.”
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