The Welshman hit a hat-trick against Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday as his new coach made a positive start to a new era and the fans got right behind the former France icon
It was said that only one player was sad to see Rafa Benitez leave Real Madrid. New coach Zinedine Zidane was even asked about the Gareth Bale situation this week and promised his player all the "support and affection" he needed. On Saturday, the Welshman responded remarkably.
Madrid had done everything they could these last few days to banish Benitez from the collective memory at the Bernabeu as president Florentino Perez dedicated only a few words to the Spanish coach as he announced his sacking on Monday and the club's director of institutional relations, Emilio Butragueno, did the same at Zidane's presentation on Tuesday.
In the meantime, Madrid have been broadcasting images of Zidane's most memorable moments on their television channel, with compilations of his finest goals on their social media accounts ahead of this match against Deportivo La Coruna and also on the big screen at the Bernabeu before the match.
And Zidane's name was greeted by huge cheers as it was announced on the loud speaker system on Saturday evening, something that had happened hardly at all with Benitez in charge, Rafa finding himself constantly and increasingly whistled in his final few weeks in charge.
On the pitch, Bale returned to the right with Cristiano Ronaldo on the opposite flank, Karim Benzema between them, Isco in midfield and Dani Carvajal at right-back instead of the hapless Danilo.
In his pre-match press conference on Friday, Zidane had called for all of his outfield players to help out with defensive duties - and that included the BBC. And even though Ronaldo still seemed reluctant to track back for the most part, Bale dropped deep and became a right midfielder when Madrid didn't have the ball.
Goal.com
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