Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho has taken a swipe at Real Madrid after Gareth Bale’s winner against Brighton on Sunday.
Bale came off the bench to help Spurs claim a 2-1 victory in north London.
It was the Welshman’s first goal for Tottenham since 2013, and Mourinho hit out at Real over their treatment of Bale in recent seasons.
“For a week or so now, he’s been improving,” Mourinho told a media conference. “It’s not just from watching him, the data supports that as well. We knew, Gareth knew. We share ideas and feelings.
“He deserves that [the goal]. When I have five minutes I’m going on Safari to look at the Madrid websites to see what they say about him.
“He showed great personality and had a great impact, scoring a very important goal for us. He also joined Harry in a very experienced way to play the last 15 minutes for us.
“They were very clever, very intelligent, especially at holding the ball up and bringing it into zones where they couldn’t hurt us.
“He knows that we care about him and he cares about the club. I think he’s a perfect fit. He’s very calm, very intelligent. I’m very pleased for him to score the winning goal.”
Bale getting on the scoresheet didn’t go unnoticed in Spain. Nor did the Spanish newspapers miss the irony of Sergio Reguilon, another former Real Madrid player, setting him up.
Marca’s report of the match also made great play of the fact Bale celebrated his goal by shouting ‘Vamos’ at the top of his voice ‘in perfect Spanish.’
Bale, who return to Tottenham on loan in September following an unproductive couple of years at the Bernabeu, needed just three minutes to make an impact against Brighton after coming off the bench.
It was the first goal scored by Bale, 31, since a Copa del Rey tie away to Unionistas back in late January.
Marca’s report pointed out that Bale and Reguilon played together 17 times for Real but this is the first time they have combined for a goal.
Real sold left-back Reguilon, who spent last season on loan at Sevilla, to Spurs in a £25million deal over the summer.
‘The connection between two former Madrid players may have made some fans question [Zinedine] Zidane’s odd decision [to let them leave]’ said Marca.
COMMENTS