Gareth Bale to miss Wales friendly with Spain and doubtful to face Republic of Ireland due to ‘muscle fatigue’, confirms Ryan Giggs
The Real Madrid forward was substituted in the 80th minute of Sunday's shock loss to Alaves
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Gareth Bale will not play for Wales in Thursday’s friendly against Spain as he deals with “muscle fatigue”, coach Ryan Giggs has confirmed.
The 29-year-old was substituted in the 80th minute of Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat against Alaves in La Liga on Saturday, and sat out training with the rest of the Wales squad on Monday and Tuesday.
Giggs added that Bale is rated only “50/50” to make his Wales return in time to play against Republic of Ireland in Tuesday’s crucial Uefa Nations League clash in Dublin.
"Gareth has got a little bit of muscle fatigue and he won't be involved against Spain," Giggs said. "We don't want to take any risks and we are monitoring it every day. I would say he is 50-50 at the minute for the Ireland game."
Bale made an impressive start to the new season with five goals and three assists in his first seven appearances for Madrid, though he has failed to find the net in his last three La Liga games.
He also played a starring role for Wales in their comprehensive 4-1 victory over Republic of Ireland at the Cardiff City Stadium back in September, registering a goal and an assist.
Wales followed up that win by losing 2-0 against Denmark in Aarhus, leaving them second in Group 4 of the Uefa Nations League’s second tier after two matches.
A crowd of almost 50,000 tickets have been sold for the visit of Spain to the Principality Stadium, where the roof will be closed due to forecast rain.
Stoke City midfielder Joe Allen said of Bale: “He always can't wait to meet up with us and it's great to have your talisman here.
“Hopefully he's going to be all right and it goes without saying how important he is to us.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments