Gareth Bale has expressed his disappointment at Real Madrid’s sacking of Rafa Benitez. The former Liverpool and Chelsea boss was replaced by Zinedine Zidane last Monday after only 25 games in charge of the Spanish giants, a decision understood to have upset the Welshman who was close to Benitez. Speaking after Madrid’s 5-0 triumph over Deportivo La Coruna in Zidane’s first match in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, Bale was forthcoming about his views on Benitez’s dismissal.“I had a very good relationship with Rafa, obviously it was a big disappointment to see him go,” he said. Bale’s disappointment however did not affect his performance with the Welsh forward becoming the first player in La Liga this season to score a hat-trick on more than one occasion. His three goals on Saturday brought his tally to ten in his last seven matches and he clearly did not want to dwell on the change of manager.“Things like this happen in football, you’re professional and you get on with it and carry on”.
The Blancos lie third in the table two points behind leaders Barcelona having played a game more than their Catalan rivals, yet Bale believes the deficit and the change in manager has not ruled Madrid out of the title race.The league is definitely still on. I think this time last year we were clear and we hadn’t lost in 22 games or something. "We know what can happen in the league, we know we have to keep fighting all the way, we’ll keep doing that until the last whistle.” Having been expelled from the Copa Del Rey for fielding an illegible player, Madrid have a whole week to prepare for their next league clash at home to Sporting Gijon on Sunday 17th January.
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