The quotes were widely circulated over the weekend
When Real Madrid’s game against Real Betis came to an end on Sunday – in a 2-0 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium – the main talking point was Gareth Bale and Zinedine Zidane.
The Welshman is currently out of favour at Madrid, and his manager has been quoted in the past as saying that he wants to sell him in a bid to free up his large salary and recruit someone new.
Bale did not make an appearance during the defeat to Betis – Madrid’s twelfth loss of the season – and if rumours are to be believed then it may have been his last chance to play at the Bernabeu.
After that game, a quote was doing the rounds from Zidane which claimed to showcase just how poor the relationship between he and Bale had become.
“If I had a fourth sub, I would not have brought him [Bale] on,” the Frenchman was quoted as saying.
Later in the day though, and despite the quotes being widely circulated in the media, journalist Ben Hayward – who was in attendance at the press conference in which Zizou was claimed to have made the remarks – denied that he had ever said such a thing.
I was at Zidane's press conference earlier after Real Madrid's game against Betis. He did not say anything remotely close to "if I had a fourth sub, I would not have brought him [Bale] on". Yet everyone reports it, nobody checks. Fake news spreads fast.
— Ben Hayward (@bghayward) May 19, 2019
“I was at Zidane’s press conference earlier after Real Madrid’s game against Betis. He did not say anything remotely close to ‘if I had a fourth sub, I would not have brought him [Bale] on’. Yet everyone reports it, nobody checks. Fake news spreads fast,” he said.
Hayward then revealed what Zidane had actually said, and it was a lot less antagonistic than the other quotes doing the rounds.
“If I had brought on another player, the same thing would have happened,” he actually said, in reference to his decision to bring on Lucas Vasquez instead of Bale and the fact that Madrid still lost 2-0.
Zidane: "If I had brought on another player, the same thing would have happened”
(By this I'm fairly sure he means that whoever is not subbed on would be asked about afterwards).
But from that to what was reported is a massive stretch. Irresponsible.
— Ben Hayward (@bghayward) May 19, 2019
