Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos Slammed by Roy Keane and Paul Scholes for Madrid Loss

Gareth Bale has often been berated by the Spanish press and fans this season, but on Tuesday night he posted a performance which led to major criticism from the British media.

ITV pundits and former Manchester United midfielders Roy Keane and Paul Scholes led the charge after Real Madrid fell 2-1 to Juventus in the Champions League semi-final first leg, while many others joined in.

Centre-back Sergio Ramos also failed to escape criticism after a poor showing in midfield on a difficult night for Los Blancos.

Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

Keane, known for his intimidating style on and off the pitch, suggested Bale might as well have taken an early bath, as tweeted by MailOnline Sport:

Scholes noted Bale's lack of confidence on his first start after injury, as reported by Pete Jenson and Nicholas Gooden of the Daily Mail: "Bale never once tried to take his man on. He just whipped the ball in and it was food and drink for Juventus' defence."

Squawka highlighted Bale's total lack of impact:

ESPN FC's Craig Burley provided his thoughts on the player's obvious struggle:

Currently linked with a move to United, as reported by Ian Ladyman of the Daily Mail, Bale's season has been a disappointing one.

He was booed in January for failing to set up Cristiano Ronaldo with an open goal, subsequently being labelled a "ball-hog," per AS (via Matthew Stanger of Sky Sports). He has scored just three in his last 17 matches, per WhoScored.com, and he appears to be suffering under the pressure of matching up to his world-record £85 million transfer fee.

B/R UK's Sam Tighe assessed the Madrid players' performances:

Much of the social media reaction to Bale's display went down the humorous route, highlighted by bookmakers Paddy Power:

Ramos also produced a night to forget in a somewhat unnatural midfield role in which his distribution continued to halt Madrid's progress up the field. Scholes provided a reactionary comment to Keane suggesting the European champions effectively played with less players, per ITV (via Football Tweet):

Squawka tweeted the Spaniard's accuracy problems:

Former Barcelona and Tottenham striker Gary Lineker suggested Ramos failed to achieve the most basic of functions:

Tom Williams of AFP indicated Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti was just giving Juventus a chance:

Paddy Power stuck with the hair theme:

Goals from Alvaro Morata and Carlos Tevez provide Juventus with a lead to defend when they head to the Bernabeu in the second leg. Ronaldo's header made him the Champions League's all-time leading scorer and provides Madrid hope of overturning the deficit in front of their own fans. Italian teams are notorious for defending stoutly when needed, so an exciting match is likely to ensue.

Both Bale and Ramos can be expected to take on key roles in the second encounter. Neither managed to deal with the intensity of Juventus' play on Tuesday and were exposed by Massimiliano Allegri's decision to go for the win. The pressure on Bale to deliver is increasing, particularly as criticism of him has now spread into Britain.