Gareth Bale will be the only one of Real Madrid's
star forward trio available for their La Liga opener against Real Sociedad on
Sunday.
Cristiano
Ronaldo and Karim Benzema are both unfit for the trip to San Sebastian,
which is live on Sky Sports.
However,
Bale has an impressive record at Anoeta, scoring in each of his three
matches there for Madrid, and Zinedine Zidane has no doubts he can take on the
mantle of attacking figurehead.
"Yes
(he can be leader), but like always" Zidane said. "He's an important
player in this team. He showed that last season and I think he can continue in
the same way this season.
"He
wants to continue making history with this great club. It's an important year
for him, and for the others."
Madrid go
into the match on the back of an impressive run in pre-season, beating Sevilla
to win the UEFA Super Cup as well as downing Bayern Munich and Chelsea in the
International Champions Cup.Madrid are also without Luka Modric and Pepe for
the trip north, but it is the fact Ronaldo will not be playing that Sociedad
striker William Jose is most happy about.
The
Brazilian knows Ronaldo well, having spent time on loan at Madrid in 2014, and
he said of the Portugal captain's absence: "It's a relief.
"He's
one of the best players in the world and can make the difference in a match,
although we have to be wary of the rest of the team as well.""I have
good memories of my time there [at Real], it was a great experience and I met a
lot of fantastic players, some of whom ended up winning the Champions League
and Copa del Rey.
"I
was enormously proud to be there and it was a great experience."
Sociedad
are planning to pay tribute to the club's former striker Dalian Atkinson during
the match. Atkinson, who spent the 1990-91 season with Sociedad, scoring 12
goals, died on Monday aged 48 after he was Tasered by police in Telford in
England.
The
Sociedad players will wear black armbands, and supporters are set to applaud in
the ninth minute, in recognition of the shirt number the Englishman most regularly
wore during his time in San Sebastian.
Source: skysports.com
Post a Comment