If you were watching ITV last night, you'll have seen Roy Keane aim a rather sharp tongue in the direction of a certain expensive Welshman. Gareth Bale was lost in Turin last night. When you compare his performance against Juventus to the one for Spurs against Inter a few years ago, you would swear you were watching different players.
And you were. The Bale of this 2015 is very far removed from that flying winger who destroyed Maicon's reputation in 90 minutes of football. Devoid of confidence, Bale has become a shadow of his former self, even in comparison to last year. His performance in Turin summed that up perfectly.
The individual stats really tell a story.
Gareth Bale 0 shots on target, chances created or tackles Fewer passes than Iker Casillas http://t.co/88fhF3RTkn pic.twitter.com/ZLT8Ll2UmB
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) May 6, 2015
As we've said before, stats don't always paint the picture that they are designed to, but anyone watching Bale languidly attempt to get into the game will have seen that something was wrong. Stats may not always tell a story but sometimes you just can't get around them.
