Zidane likens match winner Gareth Bale to Cristiano Ronaldo as Real Madrid stay in title hunt

Zinedine Zidane heaped praise on Welsh winger Gareth Bale after his late winner against Real Sociedad kept Real Madrid in the title race.

Bale headed in a Lucas Vazquez cross 10 minutes from time to keep Real Madrid at pace with league leaders FC Barcelona and 2nd place Atletico Madrid. A feisty encounter at the Anoeta stadium saw the referee brandish 4 yellow cards apiece for players on both sides.

Real Madrid went into the match against the Basque side without the injured duo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in their squad. 19 year old Borja Mayoral started alongside Lucas Vazquez and Gareth Bale upfront in a must win game for the Los Blancos.

Zidane all praise for Gareth Bale

Speaking to the media after his side registered a crucial 1-0 win against Real Sociedad, Zidane praised Gareth Bale for stepping up to the plate when it really mattered. “I’m happy for [Bale] when I see him play and score,” said Zidane (as reported by eurosport). “We could’ve scored earlier, but we had to suffer, fight and work hard until the final whistle against very difficult opponents, so I’m happy.

“[Rotations] mean everyone plays, and that’s important. For a coach who has 20 or 21 players, it’s crucial. We play every three days and it’s difficult to maintain our level. Everyone plays and fulfills [what’s asked of them]. That’s what’s good about this team.

“We won and that’s the most important thing. To go by what others do isn’t important. The important thing is to keep picking up points. Now we have to think about resting well and then Wednesday’s game.

“I suffer a lot, with or without Luka [Modric]. It’s what coaches go through. We got a good win with the effort of everyone, and now we can prepare for the game against City in the best way possible.

“I wasn’t thinking about Wednesday’s game with the substitutions of Isco and Jese [Rodriguez]. I thought about other players and nothing else. I have complete confidence in Lucas [Vazquez] and everyone else who played here and in Manchester. We’re showing that we’re a team with many important players. The team are for the collective, and what we’re doing, we’re doing well.

“[Gareth] Bale can do the same as Cristiano by playing many games. He’s recovering well physically and is very important for us. He scored a crucial goal.”

Zidane: “We fought, we suffered, we worked until the end and we won again.”

READ: https://t.co/vPWiT1lTQi#RMLiga pic.twitter.com/S8zmGLs5GZ

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) April 30, 2016

Bale central to Real Madrid’s Champions League hopes

With Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema both missing in action over the past couple of weeks, Gareth Bale has single handedly kept Real Madrid’s La Liga title challenge alive. The former Tottenham winger scored a late brace last week at the Vallecas to hand his side a 3-2 win over relegation threatened Rayo Vallecano. On Saturday, Bale scored a wonderful headed goal to keep the Los Blancos a point behind league leaders FC Barcelona.

With Ronaldo and Benzema struggling to recover in time for the 2nd leg of the Champions League semi final against Manchester City, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane would be once again looking at Gareth Bale to provide the fireworks at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night and propel his side in to the final on May 28.