Gareth Bale was caught laughing at the decision to keep Eden Hazard on the bench during Real Madrid’s Copa del Rey defeat to Athletic Bilbao on Thursday.
The La Liga giants were eliminated from the Copa del Rey as Alex Berenguer’s late winner in the 89th minute sealed Athletic’s victory.
Hazard, who has failed to make any impact since his £88.5 million transfer move from Chelsea in 2019, started the quarter-final clash as a substitute.
After warming up for most of the second half, the Belgium international was ordered to sit back down on the bench by a member of Madrid’s coaching staff with around 15 minutes left.
But as Hazard returned back to his seat in the dugout and put his coat back on, Bale burst out laughing at the former Chelsea star.
Bale was also an unused substitute in the tie alongside Luka Jovic, who was offered to Arsenal in the January transfer window.
— Hazard Xtra. (@HazardXtra) February 4, 2022
When asked about the decision to keep Hazard and Bale on the bench, Carlo Ancelotti said after the match: ‘I brought Camavinga and Isco on for Kroos and Vinicius because of fatigue.
‘I was waiting for extra time to make another change, but unfortunately they scored and we ran out of time. ‘Why are you talking about Bale, Hazard and Jovic? Why not ask about Ceballos, Carvajal?
‘All of the guys who don’t play, it must because they’re being punished, right? It can’t be just those three. There’s nothing in it.
‘I made decisions which didn’t involve those players but if we’re being honest you have to discuss Ceballos, who didn’t play a single minute, and those who are on the bench like Vallejo, who have the same quality.’
Ancelotti also conceded Madrid felt the absence of Karim Benzema, who was ruled out of the clash due to a hamstring injury.
‘We didn’t play with an out-and-out centre-forward,’ said Ancelotti. ‘Nobody has Karim’s quality, he really helps us in possession and Asensio could have given us that along with Rodrygo and Isco.
‘We didn’t change our plan, we tried to play out from the back, but they pressed well and this made it more difficult for us to create clear chances. It didn’t work out because Athletic pressed very high and in that respect they made it more difficult. That was so important in terms of how the game panned out.
‘With 70 minutes on the clock the pressure relented a bit and the game was under control. We would have had the edge if it had gone to extra-time because they had got through so much physical work and we might have got more chances in extra-time. Unfortunately they scored and we’re out.’
