Gareth Bale has missed almost HALF of match minutes since joining Real Madrid from Tottenham for £86million in 2013

Welshman has come in for severe criticism from sections of Bernabeu faithful and these damning stats show why

Andrew Richardson

Published: 13:54, 30 Sep 2017
Updated: 13:27, 3 Oct 2017

GARETH BALE has sat almost HALF of his entire time at Real Madrid, since joining from Tottenham for £86million in 2013.

These are the damning stats which show just why the Welshman is so unpopular among Los Blancos fans.

Gareth Bale comes off injured during victory over Borussia DortmundCredit: Getty

Gareth Bale has missed 43 per cent of game time at Real Madrid since 2013Credit: Reuters

AS reveal Bale has missed 9,346 minutes in his four years, and that makes up 43 per cent of of playing time.

He was taken off during the midweek victory over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League — and is a doubt for the La Liga clash with Espanyol on Sunday.

Injuries have been a real concern for Bale and have marred his time in Madrid.

After a sensational season in which he netted winners in the Copa del Rey and Champions League final victories, he began missing more and more games.

Bale, 28, is the member of the BBC — alongside Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo — who has missed the most amount of football since his arrival completed the formation of the dreamy front line.

And that is despite being the youngest of the trio.

Injuries have been a major problem for Gareth Bale since joining Real MadridCredit: Associated Press

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Injuries during the last campaign gave Isco a chance to stake his claim, and the Spain international earned a starting berth in the Champions League final ahead of Bale.

Meanwhile, the emergence of Marco Asensio has made his position even more fragile.

Zinedine Zidane insists he has not completely ruled Bale out of the clash with Espanyol.