Bale under scrutiny again as Madrid feel the love for Vinicius
Real Madrid´s interim coach Santiago Solari said "Bale is fantastic", but still took him off in the 71st minute against Real Valladolid on Saturday. Madrid were drifting towards a 0-0 draw at their Santiago Bernabeu home and, searching for inspiration, it was Bale´s number 11 that came up. He departed to whistles from the fans even if Solari, perhaps deliberately, spared him being being replaced directly by Vinicius Junior. Nevertheless, the 18-year-old came on two minutes later and made the difference, his shot deflecting in to give Madrid the lead. "Another day, Gareth will score," Solari said. "And everyone will celebrate." But those quickest to criticise Bale are circling again ahead of the trip to Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League on Wednesday. Support for Vinicius has been intense and Bale is seen as the one standing in the way. "Vinicius puts Bale in trouble," read the frontpage of AS on Monday. One week into his sti...