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Gareth Bale Misses Out On Real Madrid Squad For Manchester City Game

Gareth Bale Misses Out On Real Madrid Squad For Manchester City Game

The Spanish champions travel to Manchester for the second leg of their last 16 Champions League tie later this week.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Gareth Bale has been left out of Real Madrid's squad for the Champions League game against Manchester City on Friday night, despite being fit and available.

Real are set to face City at the Etihad Stadium later this week in the second leg of their last 16 tie, trailing 2-1 after the first leg at the Bernabeu way back in February.

Zinedine Zidane could have selected Bale for the travelling party to England and used him on the night but the former Spurs man has been dropped completely and won't travel.

Club captain Sergio Ramos on the other hand is suspended, after picking up a yellow card in the first leg, but will still travel as a non playing member of the squad.

Bale started just 12 games in La Liga this season, as Real regained the title from Barcelona, with six more appearances coming off the bench.

Since football returned in Spain in June, the 31-year-old made only two appearances for the club in last stretch of the season.

Against Eibar on June 14th he came on for the final half an hour in a 3-1 win, and 10 days later he started against Mallorca and was taken off after 71 minutes in a 2-0 victory.

Bale's last few years in Madrid have mostly been about his falling out with Zidane, over two periods as manager of Los Blancos, and he has become less and less important to the team.

In recent weeks he has been spotted wearing a mask over his eyes when sitting as a substitute for one game and was then only just joining in with his teammates celebrations when winning La Liga just a few weeks ago.

The former Southampton winger was voted a the worst Real player this season but his agent has warned that he won't be leaving the Spanish capital anytime soon, saying, "Gareth is fine. He has two years left on his contract.

"It's a great loss that he's not in the Real Madrid team at the moment but he will not leave."

For now he has to sit and watch his teammates take on City for a place in the Champions League quarter final, there's a good chance he'll just play a round of golf instead.

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Topics: Manchester City, Football News, Premier League, gareth bale, Champions League, Spain, Wales, Real Madrid, La Liga