Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane hailed Gareth Bale after his goalscoring comeback against Espanyol. “There’s no-one else like him.”
Bale returned from three months out to score the clincher in Madrid’s 2-0 victory over Espanyol, and Zidane felt the Welshman “didn’t give the impression” he was a player that had been injured.
“Another win? Yes, and with many changes. Those who went out did well,” the Coach said after the game.
“We did very well. With 1-0, you can never be calm. We deserved the third goal because there was a penalty on Cristiano "
“Scoring in 42 consecutive games? The team are working well, there’s a good atmosphere and the players are feeling very good, which is the most important thing, but we haven’t won anything yet."
“Now we have two difficult matches away from home. We’ll try to take advantage of the Valencia game "
“It was difficult to score two goals today, but we had a lot of patience in the game. I like to alternate patience with speed. I hope it’s like this until the end of the season."
“ Bale and Morata? I’m happy because Bale has come back in the best way, scoring. He really wanted to be with us again "
“I told him to go out and have fun. You could see that both of them, like everyone, were plugged in and that’s good for the team."
“ Ronaldo anxious? I don’t see him that way. I think he helped the team a lot like he did against Napoli. I’m not worried. I know he’ll make a difference when it matters "
“The players are happy to be helping the team whenever they’re called upon. It’s important they feel that way. We know we’re going to need them all."
“ Isco? He’s happy and he assisted both of our goals "
“What Bale brings? There’s no-one else like him. He’s special, but all the players do their bit."
“He didn’t give the impression that he went three months without playing, he’s powerful and he can make a difference at any moment. We know what [BBC] contribute.”