When Gareth Bale picked up a nasty ankle injury back in November, Real Madrid fans were frustrated to be losing one of their key players for a few months, but fans of Ireland and Wales were much more interested in the exact timeframe for his return to fitness as the vague information claiming he would be back 'around March' was simply not clear enough.
Ireland host Wales in a massive World Cup qualifier on March 24th, and while we would never wish injury upon any player... It would have been nice if Bale's recovery caused him to watch that game from the stands, from an Irish point of view.
Sadly (or bloody brilliantly if you're a Wales fan), Zinedine Zidane has today revealed that he expects to be able to name Gareth Bale in his Real Madrid team to face Napoli in the second leg of their Champions League round of sixteen game on the 7th of March.
I hope that Bale is back with us before the return leg against Napoli. He still has to return to team training, which is the most important thing.
He's fine. He's working very well and looks determined.
How determined are we talking here? There's no need to rush him back, sure that would be silly.
The timeframe above would have him back playing a full two weeks before the Ireland match, and while, yes, you want to beat a rival team when they are at full strength... That's actually a load of bollocks at the end of the day and Wales are significantly weaker, as any team in the world would be, without a player of Bale's calibre.
It looks like he's going to make it, but hopefully O'Neill's men can still get the job done like we all know they can. #COYBIG
