No place for Gareth Bale in Real Madrid fans’ Starting XI

Going into his third season at the Bernabeu, Real fans remain skeptical about Gareth Bale.

After a sensational first season, in which two spectacular final goals papered over his deficiencies, Bale had a very difficult second season, and ended up becoming the scapegoat for all of Madrid’s ills.

The Welshman was regularly booed at the Bernabeu last season, and often appeared a bit lost out on the pitch, with his agent even resorting to publicly complaining that his teammates weren’t passing him the ball.

He returned to pre-season with a new beard and top knot look, looking determined to start over, but it hasn’t gone according to plan, with Benitez’s experiment of playing him as a number 10 looking like a lost cause.

And given how well Isco performed in pre-season, a majority of Real Madrid fans would prefer to see him in the starting XI over Bale, according to a survey.