Gareth Bale has been left out of Real Madrid’s squad for Friday night’s crunch Champions League last-16 second leg game at Manchester City.
The Welsh winger has made only two appearances and just one start since lockdown and was not called up at all for Los Blancos’ final LaLiga game of the season.
Coach Zinedine Zidane described the 31-year-old’s absence against Leganes as a “technical decision”, yet there had been a free space in the squad available for the trip to Butarque.
Bale is not included on Zidane's 24-man list for the match at the Etihad Stadium on Friday, which could be Madrid’s last of the 2020-21 season as they seek to overcome a 2-1 first-leg deficit to advance to the final phase of the competition in Lisbon next week.
