Madrid held at Villarreal before PSG; Bale makes rare start

BARCELONA: The only positive that Real Madrid could take away from its scoreless draw with Villarreal on Saturday was Gareth Bale, whose good form belied his return to the pitch after more than five months on the sidelines. The stalemate left Madrid four points clear of second-placed Sevilla as the Spanish league leader continues to struggle without injured striker Karim Benzema, and with their Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain just three days away. Bale had not played for club or country since a brief appearance for Wales on Sept.

1 in a friendly. Before that, he made three appearances for Madrid in August before a series of injuries and a COVID-19 infection ensured he fell out of Carlo Ancelotti’s rotation in favor of younger players such as Vinícius Júnior and Marco Asensio. With Benzema recovering from a left hamstring pull, Ancelotti gave Bale the nod to play as his striker.

Bale needed almost the entire first half to finally get involved, but once he did, he showed the same ability he always had to produce scoring chances. “(Bale) had his opportunity and he made the most of it. He could have scored, he gave us a threat up front, he did all we asked of him,” Ancelotti said about the former star who returned to Madrid last summer after his loan to Tottenham.

Only the goalkeeping of Gerónimo Rulli stopped Bale on three occasions, including one shot he pushed onto his bar in the 56th minute. Late substitute Luka Jovic almost grabbed a stoppage-time winner on the break when he sent his chipped shot onto the bar. Villarreal, which moved into fifth place, was also without its top striker as Gerard Moreno nursed a right leg injury.