Gareth Bale and his absences due to injuries keep on increasing as he gets injured for the 18th time at Real Madrid.
Due to his lengthy resume of sick leaves, he has missed almost 65 games and their coach Santiago Solari is not at all pleased.
He said losing Bale to injury midway through Real Madrid’s La Liga clash with Villarreal cost his side victory as they had to settle for a 2-2 draw.
Bale struggled to get involved in the first half and did not emerge following the restart due to a suspected calf problem – the latest in a long line of injuries for the Welsh forward – after going to the ground under minimal contact from Javi Fuego in the 38th minute.
Solari felt that Bale’s absence played a big role in Madrid’s inability to close the match with a victory over Villarreal.
“We had the victory in our hand and wanted to kill the game. But they came back and got the equaliser,” he told Movistar. “They pressed a lot, were playing at home and needed the points.
“Gareth leaving like that cost us as he had a problem and we missed that counter-attacking edge, and Gareth is a specialist at just that. You would have seen what happened – he got a bang and felt something and was not able to continue.”