Bale begins his farewell tour

BBH. Bale, Benzema and Hazard was the first attack of the second Ancelotti era, Invoking the past to set the future in motion. It lasted a sigh, like almost everything that Bale has undertaken in Madrid. The Welshman played the first three games incomplete without that footballer who Florentino bought nine years ago appearing. He has not played for Madrid since August 28 after a knee injury, a muscle injury, the coronavirus and some back problems that never appeared in a medical report. The ailment escaped Ancelotti cornered by questions from the press. 145 days blank.

Everything in Bale’s stay in Madrid has three figures: his goals (106), his games played (254), those he missed (128) and days off (594). He never played 50 games per season nor did he reach the 26 goals he scored in his last season at Tottenham before signing for Madrid.

His last three campaigns have ended up erasing his good moments. That “Wales, golf, Madrid”, exhibited chorally by the internationals of the British team, with a smiling Bale in the center of the banner, has ended up being fulfilled to the letter. After his first three games, he played two more for Wales in September (180 minutes, three goals) and returned with a knee injury. He could not attend the October FIFA window but he was in November without having played again for Madrid. He played 45′ against Belarus and was injured again. Then he was called up against Atlético but he didn’t come off the bench, the coronavirus passed and finally those discomforts appeared in his back, explained with great difficulty by Ancelotti: “He’s not injured, but he doesn’t feel well”.

Sin Courtois ni Militao

Today, less than six months after his departure from the club, he could have a few minutes, like Hazard, another of his kind, who has not had a minute in the Super Cup. Ancelotti will deeply refresh the team. Back, he will get what he has, because Militao is suspended, Vallejo and Carvajal injured and Courtois, indisposed. Lucas Vázquez, Nacho and perhaps Marcelo will be starters. Valverde is also expected for Modric and a young attack, with Rodrygo, Jovic and Vinicius. Benzema didn’t even make the list. The match could be an opportunity for Ceballos, to whom Ancelotti has dedicated more praise than minutes.

The rotation in Elche, devastated by COVID in 2022, will also be moderate, starting with the management. Francisco, the first coach, is confined; Jaime Ramos, his second, and Sergio Pardo, the physical trainer. An analyst, José Manuel Rodríguez, will have to sit on the bench. The template has also been greatly affected. He started with eight contragios when he came back from vacation; then he added four more; then Fidel and Palacios, and finally Josema, Pastore, Casilla and Piatti got sick. Yesterday Mascarell and Barragán fell. None of the last six is ​​available.

A new Elche

Madrid, who already beat him in the League (1-2) with Escribá still on the bench, will find a radically different Elche. Then he was on the decline and now he is five points above the red zone. That team preached football of order and this one of race: maximum intensity, high pressure and an aggressive 4-4-2. The therapy has worked. Of the nine games directed by Francisco, Elche has only lost two, against Barcelona and Valencia, both away and by the minimum. He has passed three rounds of the Cup and has three consecutive victories. So he will prepare an uncomfortable game for Madrid despite the consequences of the outbreak. Among the meritorious will be goalkeeper Werner, formerly of Atlético, Palacios and Raúl Guti. Francisco saved the bullet from Lucas Boyé, the team’s top scorer, with six goals and an ankle injury. He prefers it fresh on Sunday at the Bernabéu, where the third edition of the duel this season will take place, considered by both as more relevant.

Elche has played 49 times against Madrid, four of them in the Cup. Their six wins were at home and the last one dates back to 1978, with Roque Olsen on the bench and Gilberto and Trobbiani as top figures on the field. Nine years earlier they had reached their only cup final, which they lost to Athletic de Iribar, Uriarte, Arieta, Clemente and Rojo. His coach was Roque Gastón Máspoli, Uruguay’s goalkeeper in the Maracanazo. A victory against Madrid would also be today.