As if their current troubles in La Liga were not enough, Real Madrid could find themselves facing even bigger problems with a lengthy ban to their star forward.
For a while, it looked like Real Madrid’s problems for this season were done and dusted. After all, Los Blancos had a great game against Barcelona in the first leg of the Copa Del Rey semi-final where they deserved more than 1-1. They defeated Atletico Madrid 3-1 in the derby to take the second place in La Liga. And the European champions showed their mettle in a 2-1 away victory against Ajax in the Champions League.
Trouble for Bale?
But with a horrible display in their 1-2 defeat at home to Girona, Madrid have shown that their seesaw season is set to continue for a while. And to make things worse, Madrid’s star winger, Gareth Bale has ran himself into a controversy which could and should have been easily avoided.
The Welshman scored Real Madrid’s 3rd goal in the last week’s Madrid derby after coming off the bench. It was also Bale’s 100th goal for Real Madrid in all compititons. Playing in front of the noisy Atletico fans and already frustrated by his current role in the team, the winger decided to take it all out in his celebration. And he ended up celebrating the goal in such a manner that it was offensive to say the least.
Here is Bale’s goal celebration from the Madrid derby:
And although match referee did not notice it at that time, La Liga has decided to action on this situation. The Spanish footballing body also released an official statement about the situation:
“In the celebration of Bale’s goal, he waves his right arm to the proximity of his head, in a predictable sign of encouraging provocation to the public, subsequently making a gesture of possible obscene and contemptuous meaning, raising the bent arm and hitting the middle of it with the other hand,”
“The possible sanctions for these provocations vary. If it occurs, the offender will be sanctioned with suspension of four to twelve games, if the animosity of the public, the suspension will be from one to three parties (games) or for a period of up to one month.”
While La Liga is still busy taking a decision on the situation, Bale was free to play against Girona on Sunday. And the Welshman did come off the bench in the 66th minute but could not save Real Madrid from a defeat.
It doesn’t look like the winger will miss 12 matches for his celebration. But if it were to happen, Bale’s La Liga season will be more or less finished and Santiago Solari will be left with another issue to solve. The 3rd placed Real Madrid will take on Levante in their next league game after a week’s rest.
Author’s Take:
That celebration from Gareth Bale was not needed at all. But it just tells you how frustrated he is with his current role in the squad. We will have to wait for La Liga to make a final decision and although it is unlikely to be a 12-match ban, the Welshman will miss a few games for sure.