Glenn Hoddle has urged Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti to play Gareth Bale in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final clash with Chelsea this evening. The 32-year-old has played just five times for Los Blancos in all competitions this season and has not featured since the first-leg of the Round of 16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain.
In recent seasons, it's been nothing short of a nightmare for Bale in Madrid. He spent the 2020/21 campaign back in England on loan at Tottenham but returned to the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer.
The Wales international is expected to leave the Spanish capital at the end of the season upon the expiry of his big-money contract in Madrid. His agent, Jonathan Barnett, confirmed his client will leave the club in the summer.
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Barnett told Spanish TV station Deportes Cuatro via the Mirror: "Bale deserves a grand farewell from the club. And no, we have not yet decided on his future."
There are still plenty of games between now and the end of the season, and Bale, likewise Real Madrid, will be hoping his career there finishes well. An appearance tonight against Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-final could indeed be the start of that - something Hoddle has been speaking about.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Mail, the former Chelsea midfielder said: "I think in a short period of time, maybe at 20 minutes [he can have an impact on the game]. You might see Gareth more involved in the second-leg rather than the first. It depends on the result.
"What he's done with Wales proves he is still a very good player. Anyone can play 20 minutes at this level. He certainly can. He can play more.
"He is a very good substitute to have, especially when he is playing at full throttle. They've got some good players, Real Madrid, but they are not the team of yesteryear."
Regardless of whether Bale is playing or not, Thomas Tuchel is expecting a very difficult task against the 13-times winners of this competition. In his pre-match press conference, he said: "It's hard to keep their record.
"They won it three times [in a row] this competition, and it's an incredibly hard tournament to win, and they did it three times. They trusted an almost similar squad over a long period of time which was impressive and outstanding. It's normal that cycles like this change at some point.
"In terms of a winning streak, reaching the final, maybe this is what happened to them. But we should be very aware that teams with this kind of experience, flair and quality can produce special performances on special occasions.
"For us, it's also a special occasion - we play Real Madrid in a quarter-final. So that is why we feel pretty excited.
"We don't lose too much sleep thinking about where they are. We want to prove a point to ourselves tomorrow. That's the target. The occasion is special, and the opponent is special. That is why we are excited."
