Real Madrid’s outcast trio Gareth Bale, Eden Hazard and Luka Jovic have been castigated by the Spanish media after missing the club’s El Clasico humiliation.
Real were thrashed 4-0 by fierce rivals Barcelona in front of their own fans at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday in a match unlikely to affect the LaLiga title race but which could indicate a shift in the power struggle between the two sides.
After all three missed the game, Spanish daily Marca blasted Bale for being problematic, Jovic as ‘lazy’ and insisted Hazard’s physical condition is not up to scratch – claiming manager Carlo Ancelotti could not call upon any of them.
Spanish paper Marca has blasted Real Madrid trio Gareth Bale, Eden Hazard and Luka Jovic
Los Blancos were torn apart by their fierce El Clasico rivals in a humiliating 4-0 home defeat
Much of the criticism levelled at Real after the match was aimed at Ancelotti for his line-up and formation, but Marca insist the responsibility lies on the players for not being realistic options for the manager.
Welsh winger Bale, 32, was criticised for being more focused on international duty than his club, presenting Real with a £25,000 invoice for medical treatment in England – which was not paid to him – and ‘disappears with amazing ease’ from day-to-day activities.
Having only played 69 minutes across two matches since August, Marca also say Ancelotti is ‘counting down the days’ until Bale leaves the club as he has caused ‘more problems than joy’.
They admit Hazard’s attitude is good and he is popular among his team-mates, but report his physical condition is not up to scratch and the Belgian winger keeps picking up niggly injuries, with Ancelotti judging that he ‘contributes very little’.
The former Chelsea winger, who hasn’t played in an El Clasico match in three years since joining from the Blues, is said to feel unfairly treated.
Serbian striker Jovic, meanwhile, who signed for around £50million in June 2019, has only scored three…