Gareth Bale improved his stock more than any Real Madrid player against Milan

Real Madrid and AC Milan played out a 0-0 draw in Austria in Los Blancos’ second and final pre-season tune-up match before their opening LaLiga fixture against the notoriously stingy Deportivo Alaves. While David Alaba’s stellar display in his home country drew some headlines, there is no doubt that Gareth Bale made the most waves in this one.

A basic box-score watcher or social media scroller will see that Bale missed a penalty against Milan and surmise that he played poorly. But anyone doing this would be speaking a lie. Bale was one of the two best players on the pitch for Real in the first half, right there with Alaba.

It was important for Bale to play like this. We have heard that he is motivated to give his all for Real Madrid in 2021-2022 in the final year of his contract, as he wants to give this club a proper farewell on the pitch. Bale’s last season with the Merengue club was a disaster, as he struggled for fitness and minutes while squabbling behind-the-scenes with another legendary figure of Real, Zinedine Zidane.

But Bale gets along well with Carlo Ancelotti. The returning manager prepared to get the most out of his veteran players like Bale and Isco, who also played well against Milan (a potential suitor of his on the transfer market, no less). Ancelotti is ready to give Bale chances to take back that right wing spot, and you wouldn’t bet against him being Real’s best option right now.

Gareth Bale did not score for Real Madrid against Milan, but he played well

Bale did not find the back of the net against the Rossoneri, unfortunately, but he had multiple good attempts on goal and actually won the penalty that he missed. He found the slightest space between the center backs and took Luka Jovic’s slipped pass with a lovely first touch. Bale then fought to get into the box before being unfairly brought down.

Outside of the individual effort to win the penalty, Bale, wearing the No. 50, always looked eager to influence the play progressively and score. We never really saw that from him in 2019-2020, but in this preseason game, despite not being 100 percent fit, Bale was very much a positive in the attack.

A lot has been said about Bale by Madridistas and the media out of frustration during his nightmare of 2019-2020 campaign, but the fans seem to already be back on his side. Some have realized they were too harsh, but, really, most fans were always pulling for Gareth Bale and have the utmost respect for everything he has done for this club.

The fans understand he raised Real Madrid’s ceiling to three-peat status. Now, in 2021-2022, his task is to be a key part of the attacking equation in his final season, perhaps playing a role in Real hoisting a trophy after missing out on silverware last season.