Real Madrid star Gareth Bale appeared to laugh as his teammate Eden Hazard trudged back to the bench as an unused substitute in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Ray.
Los Blancos lost the match 1-0 to Athletic Bilbao, with second-half substitute Alex Berenguer curling a great strike past Thibaut Courtois in the 89th minute to send the Same Mames Barria into a frenzy.
The defeat was Madrid’s first in seven games, though the entire tournament will have been deemed very winnable given that Sevilla, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid had been knocked out in previous rounds.
Athletic served it up to Carlo Ancelotti’s men for the majority of the match, and Madrid were unable to sustain their attacks due to the absence of Karim Benzema who is currently sidelined with injury.
Both Bale and Hazard have played as makeshift strikers previously, but Marco Asensio was played centrally instead, and it was the absence of both stars which caused quite the scene on the bench.
As Hazard returned after an extensive warm-up on the sidelines, Bale was spotted laughing at the former Chelsea star.
It is unknown whether the ex-Premier League pair shared a glancing look or joke, though it was suggested online that the Welshman potentially found it funny that Hazard was stuck in the same situation as himself and that they were essentially trapped at the Santiago Bernabeu.
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One fan wrote on Twitter : “Looked like Bale briefly glanced Hazard’s way first and maybe saw a face or gesture that Hazard made, or perhaps they shared a knocking look or something as they may feel they’re stuck in a similar situation.”
Whilst a Chelsea supporter added: “Hazard did this to himself, man. Should have stayed where they worshipped him like a god, but no, he wanted a new challenge for his dream club.”
Given that Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior had only just returned from international duty with Brazil, some were confused as to why the pair were both preferred to Bale and Hazard given that they were fresh and, presumably, raring to go.
Ancelotti was asked about why he was not playing certain stars and whether they were being penalised – hinting at Hazard and Bale – to which the former Everton boss replied: “Kroos went off due to fatigue, like Vinicius. I was thinking about changes for extra time and there was no time.
“Punished players? I have nothing to say. There are no penalized players. Ceballos, Vallejo... didn't play either. They are at the same level as the others who didn't play. We have to be fair".
The Italian then added: “We don't have players with Karim's quality. We haven't changed the plan. We tried to come from behind, but we couldn't. Athletic's pressure was great. Athletic's pressure was great until the 70th minute. I think we had the advantage in extra time, but they scored in the last minute.”
It remains to be seen for just how much longer both of the aforementioned stars will remain at the Santiago Bernabeu or whether they will push for transfers at the end of the season in search of more regular minutes.
