For Gareth Bale, Returning for the Madrid Derby Presents a Rare Opportunity

Several years ago, psychologists from the City University of Hong Kong and Cornell University conducted a study on the intimacy of relationships, their aim to answer one classic question: Does absence really make the heart grow fonder?

Now before we get all Dr. Phil here, let's skip the details and go straight to the study's answer: Yes, it concluded. It does.  

Gareth Bale, you sense, might concur. 

It was only six weeks ago in late August when a poll run by Marca saw Real Madrid fans asking for the polarising Bale to be dropped from Rafa Benitez's starting XI. Unconvinced of his worth, angered by his protected status, many of the club's followers still harboured hostility in regard to the Welshman, the ill-feeling lingering, a tumultuous 2014-15 season not forgotten.

Fans, said the poll, wanted Isco instead. 

Twenty-nine days later that group got what they wanted, or perhaps got what they'd convinced themselves they wanted.

As Real Madrid walked out on to the Bernabeu in mid-September for a clash with Granada, Bale not only wasn't in the XI, he wasn't even on the bench. Instead, he was in the stands nursing an injury, his critics getting what they wanted even if it wasn't how they wanted to get it. 

Down on the pitch that day, Real Madrid won but were hardly convincing, a lone Karim Benzema goal and a contentious refereeing decision the difference between the sides. Since, Benitez's team hasn't hit any great heights, either, doing enough to get past Athletic Bilbao and Malmo either side of drawing a blank against Malaga. 

Prior to that, when Bale was around, the scorelines had read 4-0, 6-0 and 5-0. 

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Of course, the absence of the Welshman isn't the sole factor in Real Madrid's form discrepancy before and after his enforced layoff.

With James Rodriguez and Sergio Ramos also missing, Benitez has been without a large portion of his top-end talent, his spine, and the defences of Granada and Malaga for instance were in stark contrast to those offered by Real Betis and Espanyol. In fact, calling whatever it was that Espanyol served up a "defence" would be like calling Snakes on a Plane "entertainment."

But then, for Bale, none of this really matters. For him, the worst thing that could have possibly happened would have been for Real Madrid to continue their bulldozing work without him, his absence relegated from central focus to side note. But instead, Madrid, regardless of why, have laboured without him, shifting the mood that surrounds him, changing the perception of his influence. "We'll be better when Bale is back," has been typed into more than a few comment sections. 

Absence, then, really has made hearts grow a little fonder. And those hearts could grow fonder again. 

On Sunday, Real Madrid travel to the site of their most-heinous recent memory: the Vicente Calderon. Indeed, when Carlo Ancelotti's side were effectively kicked to the curb and spat on in a 4-0 humiliation at the hands of Atletico Madrid in February, the feeling of a shift in dynamic of this capital battle was confirmed. 

In a staggering eight meetings last season Real won once. In the league, Real haven't beaten Atletico in almost two-and-a-half years, back when Jose Mourinho was around. When Marca called this "the never-ending derby," the connotations for Real weren't heartening. 

What a time, then, for Bale to be making his return. 

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Set to feature on Sunday, according to AS, for the first time since limping off against Shakhtar Donetsk, the Welshman is staring at a rare opportunity ahead of El Derbi madrileno.

With Real's hideous recent record against Atleti strong in the memory, with Real labouring for whatever reason in his absence, with that absence positively altering the feeling toward him, Bale has a chance to essentially win over an entire fanbase in a single evening. 

To date, he's split opinions, polarising the following of an entire club, but on Sunday it could all change. If he returns not just with a bang but with a statement, busting open Atletico Madrid, exorcising the demons of Diego Simeone's hex, that shifting feeling will become totally and utterly swayed.

Through one performance, he can present himself as the ingredient the recipe has missed. He can justify his protected status. He can live up to his billing. He can comfortably throw that Galactico tag on his shoulders. 

He can be the difference. 

Whether or not that's strictly true doesn't matter for Bale. The perception of him in regard to things such as status, billing, expectation and tags has always been warped, most of the time against him, the reality often different. 

Now, though, in a single evening, he could change that. For Bale and Real Madrid fans, absence has made the heart grow a little fonder. But if Bale can be the man to hand a hammer blow to Simeone's Atletico, it might finally be love.

Follow @TimDCollins