Gareth Bale Refuses To Warm-Up For Real Madrid Against Levante

Gareth Bale grabbed the attention of the Spanish media for all of the wrong reasons after reports suggest that he refused to warm-up during Real Madrid's match with Levante.

Diario AS claims that the 29-year-old Welsh winger was not keen to stretch his muscles ahead of his introduction into the match.

Sure, the Madrid ace initially warmed up, but that was before Santiago Solari decided to take off Toni Kroos in the second half and replaced him with Federico Valverde.

As the Spanish newspaper pointed out, Bale sat back down on the bench to the 'amazement' of Dani Ceballos, Marcelo and Keylor Navas.

The former Tottenham Hotspur star wasn't done there. He was reportedly keen to play hardball with the Madrid boss' snub, especially as his fellow substitutes 'didn't know what he was doing' and Marcelo wanted him to continue warming up.

Did he budge? Nope. Not a chance.

In fact, one of Solari's staff, fitness coach Antonio Pintus, spotted Bale and even told him to start doing his warm-up routine.

Did it work? No. That's right, the Wales international refused that order, too.

The Madrid boss would later sub him on for Karim Benzema, which even surprised Bale at his decision.

Bale would have an impact in the match, scoring the winner from the spot kick.

However, he refused to celebrate the penalty and was compared to a "Cristiano Ronaldo mode of 'I'm not happy. Everybody, please pay attention [to me].'"

Bale's future at Los Blancos remains uncertain, especially after a recent incident with Luka Modrić in training would suggest that the Welshman is unhappy at the reigning Champions League holders.

Benzema fired Madrid into the lead from the spot kick, but Roger Martí pulled Levante back into the match with his second-half equaliser.

Both teams were reduced to ten men as Rubén Rochina and Nacho were sent off. In fact, the match wasn't without its other controversies, namely how VAR failed to spot Casemiro's dive for the second penalty.

Will Bale leave Madrid in the summer?

Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: El Golazo de Gol

Topics: Los Blancos, Federico Valverde, Marcelo, Santiago Solari, gareth bale, Keylor Navas, Toni Kroos, Karim Benzema, Real Madrid, La Liga

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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