Gareth Bale’s status at Real Madrid continues to plummet, after he was left out of the squad for their Champions League showdown with Manchester City.
Los Blancos have announced a 24-man traveling party, including ex-Chelsea star Eden Hazard.
But as the Spanish champions look to overturn a 2-1 deficit at the Etihad, Zinedine Zidane has not included the Welshman.
Zidane has named EIGHT forwards in his squad – but 31-year-old Bale is not among them.
Ex-City kid Brahim Diaz, and £60million misfit Luka Jovic have been included. As has young defender Javier Hernandez.
Club captain Sergio Ramos has also been named, despite being suspended. Had he not been named in the playing party, then he would have been unable to travel.
Bale isn’t the only first-team outcast not called upon by Zidane.
Colombian playmaker James Rodriguez and striker Mariano Diaz have both also been left at home.
Like Bale, Zidane is keen to cut ties with the pair.
Bale played no part in the last six games of Madrid’s La Liga campaign and was omitted from the squad for their final game of the season against Leganes.
But as Madrid head to Manchester needing to win 2-0, it is the absence of a potential match-winner in Bale that unquestionably takes the headlines.
Certainly, he was never likely to start.
But with sides allowed to have 12 players on the substitutes bench in the remainder of the competition, it had seemed more than plausible that Bale – a man who has scored crucial goals in two European Cup finals – would be included.
Instead, his relationship with Zidane sours further, with Bale – increasingly unsellable – left in Madrid.
Real Madrid confirmed squad
Goalkeepers: Courtois, Areola, Altube
Defenders: Carvajal, Militia, Ramos*, Varane, Nacho, Marcelo, Mendy, Hernandez
Midfielders: Kroos, Modric, Casemiro, Valverde, Isco
Forwards: Hazard, Benzema, Vazquez, Jovic, Asensio, Brahim, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo
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