Bale haunts Spurs as he revels in central role for Real Madrid

Real Madrid 2 Spurs 0. Gareth Bale lit up a dour pre-season encounter between Real Madrid and his old club Tottenham with a sweetly-struck goal in a 2-0 win for the Spaniards.

The 26-year-old Welshman, appearing against his old club for the first time since his £85.3m world record transfer to Madrid in 2013, doubled the Spaniards' advantage after James Rodriguez had given them the lead in Munich's Allianz Arena.

Though called the Audi Cup, the match was played at a pedestrian pace with Spurs probably wondering why there were obliged to play a meaningless jolly four days before they travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the opening match of the Premier League season. It gets worse, however, with Spurs now required to play AC Milan today in the tournament's third-place play-off, while Real take on Bayern Munich for the ‘honour' of lifting the Audi Cup.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Spurs didn't seem that interested from the start against Real, despite fielding a strong starting XI that included Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen, and once Erik Lamela had missed Spurs' best chance in the opening few minutes they rarely posed a threat to their Spanish opponents.

Nor was there much excitement in the post-match press conference when British reporters quizzed Bale about rumours linking him with a £100m move to Manchester United. The Welshman refused to comment on the stories, talking only about his hopes for the upcoming campaign with Real. "I am optimistic," he said. "It's great to have the support of the manager and the president and hopefully I can repay them now with some goals and trophies."

The arrival of new manager Rafa Benitez appears to be to Bale's liking, and he was happy with a more central role against Spurs. "I enjoy playing through the middle, it's my best position," explained Bale. "It definitely gives me more freedom. I can go out left, go out right and go through the centre. It's where I want to play."

Benitez also rubbished suggestions that Bale might be heading for the exit, as he did with the rumours linking Karim Benzema with Arsenal and Sergio Ramos with Manchester United. "I don't care about any of it," he said of the gossip. "I just want to concentrate on football, all of my players will be staying here."