Gareth Bale hasn’t had it easy at Real Madrid but he returns to England in rich form, writes Adam Bate...
In the week following Riyad Mahrez's PFA Player of the Year award, the 2013 winner returns to these shores to face Premier League opposition for the first time since his departure from Tottenham.
Gareth Bale will be in the Real Madrid team for their Champions League semi-final against Manchester City - and he is in fine form too.
Such are the extraordinary demands at Madrid that, despite scoring the winner in a Champions League final, his three seasons with the club have not been without their difficulties. And yet, Bale has directly contributed to 28 La Liga goals this season - 18 goals and 10 assists. That's the same total as Mahrez in the Premier League and he's managed it in a fraction of the game time.
Indeed, Bale's goals alone have come at a rate of one every 87 minutes this season. That's better than both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Rivals for his role in the side such as James Rodriguez and Isco have proven nowhere near as effective despite having received some very public backing.
Bale had begun the season under fire, a legacy of last season's struggles. He was jeered by Real fans in a friendly against Galatasaray and a Marca poll put him out of the starting line-up on the eve of the campaign. A similar vote in AS saw him scraping into the team but only ahead of Karim Benzema and with a fraction of the votes of James and Isco.
Rafa Benitez, then manager at the time, was unconvinced by those arguments. "If you analyse Bale's movements, you'll see they give the team respite," he told AS. "Isco and James develop play between the lines, but not Gareth. He creates spaces and looks to makes runs behind the defence." As a result, Benitez looked to increase Bale's involvement.
The two discussed his role in the side at the start of the season and Bale was allowed to go in search of the ball in central positions. While 61 per cent of his touches in last season's Champions League were restricted to the right flank, it's been only 30 per cent this season. He's enjoyed it. No wonder he was reportedly unimpressed when Benitez was sacked.
Fortunately, Bale has found another admirer in Zinedine Zidane. As long ago as 2013, the new Real boss had confirmed as much to Sky Sports. "He's unique," said Zidane. "He makes things look easy, his pace is frightening and his acceleration is unbelievable because of his ability to go through the gears in very little space."
So while the whispers were that Benitez's exit could precipitate changes to the forward line and a chance for James to reignite his Real career, instead it is Bale who immediately produced his best form. A hat-trick against Deportivo La Coruna in Zidane's first game in charge was particularly timely.
"In my opinion, his performance against Deportivo was his best display in a Real shirt," Guillem Balague told Sky Sports. Soon, Zidane was talking of Bale being a "key player for the squad" and someone he was determined to give "all the care and support he needs". They are words that Ronaldo and the rest can hardly have failed to pick up on.
"It's the fact he can now move freely and more importantly it's accepted by both Ronaldo and Benzema," added Balague. "Bale feels the confidence of Zidane but more than that he actually feels that Ronaldo sees him as a star, not just a friend of the president. That's the biggest thing that's happened to Gareth Bale."
And so, he arrives in form, impressing with two goals against Rayo Vallecano in a comeback win at the weekend. His first goal was a header - an eighth in La Liga this season, more than anyone else in Europe's major leagues and the sort he has spoken of working on every day at Valdebebas. The second was a brilliant solo effort. Zidane rated the display as "phenomenal".
As a result, the mood has changed - as it can among supporters who booed Zidane, Ronaldo and even Alfredo Di Stefano in the past. Bale is in shape and in form, a player who has grown on and off the field as a result of his experiences in Spain. He left as the best player in Britain. He returns better than ever.