Gareth Bale to Reportedly Miss Champions League Semi-Finals with Calf Injury

Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale is reportedly set to miss both legs of the team’s UEFA Champions League semi-final with Atletico Madrid due to a calf problem.

Los Blancos confirmed on Tuesday on their official website the Welshman "has been diagnosed with a grade 2 injury in his left calf" and that his "recovery will continue to be assessed."

According to Rik Sharma of Sport, the issue he picked up in Sunday’s 3-2 defeat to Barcelona will see Bale sidelined for three weeks, meaning he will sit out the Atletico double header:

In the Champions League's last four Real will host their city rivals at the Santiago Bernabeu for the first leg of the tie on May 2, while the return fixture is at the Vicente Calderon on May 10.

Sadly for Bale, these injury problems are becoming a recurring theme.

Indeed, as reported by Transfermarkt, he returned to the team against Barcelona after a strain in his calf, having missed the quarter-final fixture with Bayern Munich. Earlier in the campaign he was absent for almost three months after ankle surgery.

Bale returned from the ankle problem against Espanyol in February, scoring off the bench. Yet he's never quite got up to full speed since. Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC believes Madrid have been trying to hurry him back on occasion:

Although, as relayed by Corrigan, manager Zinedine Zidane has denied that was the case at his press conference on Tuesday:

But the No. 11 looked far from fully fit on Sunday. Bale was sluggish and struggling before he picked up the problem and was replaced by Marco Asensio.

While there are some massive matches to come for Madrid both in Europe and domestically—they now trail Barcelona on goal difference in La Liga after Sunday's loss, having played a game less—it's imperative they resist any temptation to rush Bale back. And not only for the benefit of the man himself.

Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

After all, Zidane has so much quality to call upon in the final third. Asensio impressed in the Clasico, while Isco has been in wonderful form in 2017. The likes of Lucas Vazquez, Alvaro Morata or James Rodriguez can also be used in support of Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Bale will be missed, as he has shown in the past he can have a huge influence in the biggest games. But if he's not 100 per cent fit, Madrid mustn't entertain any thoughts of flinging him into a high intensity, high-stakes fixture.

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