[THREAD]: How it all went wrong for Gareth Bale at Real Madrid and his relationship with the club collapsed.

In his first season, 2013/14, Bale had injury problems, but was still fully supported by the club. Cristiano Ronaldo even publicly stated that he shouldn’t be pressured, since it was his first season, and did not have a proper preseason.

When played, he performed very well.

2014/15 was a more difficult year for the Welshman.

He had less injury problems, played 500 more minutes than his debut year, but scored less, assisted less and his general performance was inconsistent.

3 goals and 4 assists less than 13/14, despite playing more.

His first real controversy in Madrid came toward the end of the season, when his agent Jonathan Barnett went behind manager Carlo Ancelotti’s back and talked to Florentino Pérez about Bale’s role in the team.

Bale wanted a more central role, which was impossible due to Ronaldo.

This soured his relationship with the backroom staff.

This contributed to Ancelotti’s sacking, a very unpopular decision within the squad. Veterans of the squad such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos both expressed their disappointment.

He had an upturn in 2015/16, and when the season ended, he had completed his best campaign in the white shirt.

19 goals, 11 assists in 21 league apps.

Moreover, he stepped up when it really mattered, and dragged the team when Ronaldo was injured. 1 assist in the UCL final.

Due to his successful year, he was rewarded with a contract extension, running until 2022. The start to 16/17 was inconsistent, and a major injury hit in November, which kept him out until February.

Later on he suffered another injury, and missed 6 of the final 8 league games.

During his injury, Zidane had already started playing the diamond with Isco behind Ronaldo and Benzema, which caused Bale to spend a lot of time on the bench after his comeback.

Bale was unable to force his way back into the side, as the set-up did not suit him.

This is how the issues with Zidane began, as, contrary to 2016, Zidane no longer viewed Bale as "untouchable" from the starting XI.

He now had stiff competition for the third attacking berth from Isco, who was crucial to the new possession based style Zidane employed.

2017/18 was once again a very inconsistent year for Bale. He scored 90% of his goals in the second half, when the team kicked into gear and won the Champions League.

Overall, he had great stats (28 G/A in 39 apps, all comps), but he was quite inconsistent.

After his two goals in the Champions League final, Bale expressed his discontent with being benched from the start, and claimed that he had to play every week.

His comments rightfully infuriated some fans, who felt as though they were expressed at the wrong time.

This, combined with Ronaldo being unsure of his future and Zidane leaving his job, caused the club to choose between Ronaldo and Bale. Ronaldo left for Juventus, and Gareth Bale got the role as the main man of the team.

From 18/19, he finally had his shot at leading the attack.

However, Bale disappointed massively. Despite playing 29 games, he contributed to only 12 goals, and was very poor throughout the campaign. He completely failed to step up and occupy the Ronaldo void.

He did not have his usual injuries, but still did not manage to maintain form.

Both Solari and Zidane (once he returned) opted to start Vinicius and/or Vazquez instead of Bale in most games, mainly due to how poor and meekly Bale played.

The next season did not change things, but rather made them worse.

Real Madrid, led by Zidane tried desperately to sell Bale in the summer of 2019. He was hours away from completing a move to Jiangsu Suning before the club blocked the move since they wanted a transfer fee.

Zidane had publicly stated that Bale leaving would be for the best.

This led to a toxic relationship between the club and player. Bale’s 2019/20 season was his worst to date.

He scored only 2 goals and 2 assists, with both goals coming in the same game, vs Villarreal. He managed 16 appearances, with only 4 goal contributions.

His overall gameplay also fell off a cliff.

He went from 2.2 key passes, 2 dribbles, 3.8 shots in 15/16, to 0.8 key passes, 0.9 dribbles and 2.3 shots in 19/20. (All stats p90.)

Moreover, his body language suggested that he was uninterested, and barely contributed anything.

Even more controversy surrounded Bale when he celebrated Wales’ qualification to the Euros by jumping with his Welsh teammates, holding a banner that read:

"Wales. Golf. Madrid- In that order."

His relationship to the fans reached its breaking point due to this.

Gareth Bale and the club have run their course with each other. The fans are vehemently against the player, a sentiment shared by the coach. The player is no longer a world class one, not anywhere near that level in fact.

An amicable split soon, is the best way forward for all.