Zinedine Zidane: Gareth Bale Left out of Real Madrid Squad on Medical Advice
Zinedine Zidane has said Gareth Bale was left out of the Real Madrid squad that travelled to Munich for the 2019 Audi Cup due to medical advice.
Per David Ornstein of BBC Sport, Bale did not travel for the pre-season tournament because he was "not in the right mental state to play" after Real president Florentino Perez blocked his move to Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning.
According to Zidane, club doctors advised that Bale should not travel to the tournament involving Real, Fenerbahce, Tottenham Hotspur and hosts Bayern Munich, per Dom Farrell of Goal:
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"Bale did not travel as he was not feeling good. Speaking with the doctors it was better to stay in Madrid and train there. That's it. It's a decision taken together, speaking with him. That's it."
Real lost 1-0 to Spurs in the semi-finals of the Audi Cup on Tuesday to continue their poor form in pre-season so far:
They will play Fenerbahce in the third-place play-off on Wednesday before further friendlies against RB Salzburg and Roma.
The Madrid giants then kick off their new 2019-20 La Liga season on August 17 with a trip to Celta Vigo.
Real endured a poor campaign in 2018-19 as they finished a distant third to Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga and also fell short in the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey.
This summer, Los Blancos have made moves to rectify the situation by spending around €300 million (£275 million) on Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic, Ferland Mendy, Rodrygo and Eder Militao.
Hazard and Jovic are the key attacking additions signed to fill the gap created by Cristiano Ronaldo when he left for Juventus last summer, while Rodrygo, 18, is expected to become a key member of Madrid's front line in the future.
Their arrivals at the Santiago Bernabeu were meant to signal the end of Bale's time at Real, and Zidane effectively confirmed he wanted him out of the club last week:
But after the collapse of the Welshman's move to China, it is looking increasingly likely he will stay at Real for 2019-20.
