REAL MADRID DEFENDER Alvaro Odriozola has defended his team-mate Gareth Bale, dismissing reports that the winger cuts a solitary figure in the dressing room.
Bale has lifted no less than four Champions League titles with the Merengue since moving from Tottenham in a then-world record deal in the summer of 2013.
But his place has come under threat this season, amid reports that he is a ‘loner’ inside the club and has struggled to adapt to life in Spain.
Marcelo for one has poked fun at his Spanish language skills, claiming that the pair communicate in the Brazilian’s pidgin English and through gestures.
But Odriozola believes that shyness rather than a lack of understanding is what holds Bale back.
“He looks good to me. Against Celta he played a great game. He worked hard, he is very motivated,” he explained to La Galerna.
“He knows Spanish perfectly, the thing is that he is too shy to use it, which seems normal to me.
“I speak with him in Spanish and English, without distinction. And I see that his commitment to the club is total. He is a Madrid fanatic and he has given everything for the club. He is a great player, I don’t need to say it.
“The pace, the power. And his precision in front of goal. I like him a lot.”
Bale has suffered a succession of niggling injuries over the past few years which have also restricted his first-team opportunities; but Odriozola, who has also had his troubles in that area, assured that he was one of the hardest workers in the Madrid squad.
“Nobody can choose that. There are players who are more susceptible to injury, others less so. But he works so hard in the gym, he takes great care of himself,” the defender added.
Madrid resume their Liga campaign following the international break on Sunday, when they welcome Huesca to the Estadio Bernabeu.
Zinedine Zidane’s men currently lie in third place, 12 points shy of leaders Barcelona with 10 games remaining in the current season.
Murray Kinsella and Bernard Jackman look ahead to a huge weekend for the provinces in Europe and Ryan Bailey catches up with Ian Keatley on the latest episode of The42 Rugby Weekly:
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