Carlo Ancelotti believes Gareth Bale finally announced himself as a Real Madrid player on Wednesday night, as he hit a brace in a 7-3 win.
The Wales international arrived at the Bernabeu during the summer from Tottenham Hotspur, in a deal which is thought to have net the English club a world record transfer fee of £83.5million. Although he scored on his debut in a 2-2 draw at Villarreal, he has seen his early weeks in Spain interrupted by a series of muscle problems.
Indeed, Bale was handed his first home start on Wednesday when Sevilla visited the Spanish capital, and the 24-year-old responded with two goals inside the first 27 minutes. Perhaps inevitably, he was still overshadowed by Cristiano Ronaldo who bagged a hat-trick in the 7-3 win, but Ancelotti feels this was a significant night for the Welshman.
“Tonight everyone saw the real Gareth,” said the Real coach. “He played really well, showing fantastic skills. It takes time but it was a necessity. Now he doesn’t have problems physically and he is improving his confidence, so he will be very important for us in the future.”
This was certainly an improvement on the weekend, when Bale endured a difficult evening as Barcelona beat Real 2-1 at the Camp Nou. Real are already six points behind the reigning champions after eleven games, and their city rivals Atletico are currently two point aheads of them but have a game in hand against Granada on Thursday night.
