Zidane cagey as to Gareth Bale’s availability against Tottenham Hotspur

Guess what: Gareth Bale is injured! Shocking, I know. Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane gave an update on the status of the Welsh superstar and former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder today, but held his cards pretty close to his vest when asked whether Bale might be ready to return to England and face his old club in the Champions League on Wednesday.

"[Gareth Bale & Keylor Navas] are improving. We'll assess next week if they can play against Tottenham.

"They still haven't trained with the team and I still can't tell if you if they'll be in London. It depends how their injuries progress."

So depending on what kind of media outlet you are, this means either Bale is set to miss the match Wednesday, or Bale could yet feature against his old club. Personally I think it’s a close thing, but I can’t imagine Zidane would want to rush Bale back into the fold against his old club when he already has a pretty robust history of sustaining injuries. Bale also missed the 1-1 draw against Spurs at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

Personally, I’d love to see Spurs go up against Bale for the first time since he departed North London, but I would understand if Zidane would hold him out for precautionary measures. On his day, Bale is one of Madrid’s brightest stars, but they still have plenty of good players on the bench and there isn’t much reason to risk Bale if he’s not ready.