I have no problem with Bale: Zidane

MADRID: Zinedine Zidane insists he has no problem with Gareth Bale despite substituting him at half-time during Real Madrid’s Champions League clash against Juventus last week.

Sources have told AFP that Bale was surprised and angry at Zidane’s decision to take him off at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Real trailing 2-0 in a match they went on to lose 3-1. The defending champions progressed 4-3 on aggregate.

Bale was then not included in the squad for Sunday’s 2-1 win over Malaga in La Liga but Real insisted the plan had always been to rest players for the match.Against Juve, Karim Benzema made way for Bale by dropping to the bench but Zidane says neither player feels sidelined by recent selections.

“No I don’t think so, this is football,” Zidane said on Tuesday. “I dont see either of them looking sad, they are training well.“I spoke to the pair of them the other day, they would both like to score more goals but everyone is working well. It is always going to happen in a side like ours. There are players in good form and playing well but I have to be ready always to evaluate who is the best players for the team at any given time.”

Zidane has prefered Benzema as a partner for Ronaldo up front this season but the Frenchman has managed only one goal in his last nine games.“We know the quality he has,” Zidane said. “He has to score goals of course, he knows that - he knows he can do other things but he has to score goals.”