Ancelotti defends Bale

Bale

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti defended Gareth Bale despite his low-key performance in the 2-1 El Clasico defeat by Barcelona on Saturday, ESPN reports.

The 24-year-old winger began the game in an unfamiliar position as a striker in what was only his second start of an injury-hit season.

The £85m summer signing was replaced by Karim Benzema after an hour.

Ancelotti said, “He played well and needs to look for his team-mates’ runs. He didn’t play badly during that hour.”

Bale joined Real from Tottenham for a world record fee in the summer but foot and thigh injuries have restricted his playing time.

Ancelotti added, “I think they are his first matches and he needs to get used to playing with his team-mates, which is normal.

“It doesn’t make much difference for him to play on the right or in the middle. We started like that to put more pressure on Sergio Busquets, but after 20 minutes I changed his position to the wing to give him more room.”

Former Chelsea boss Ancelotti, who was experiencing his first Clasico, was adamant that Real should have been awarded a penalty when forward Cristiano Ronaldo went down under the challenge of defender Javier Mascherano with 20 minutes remaining.

“Naturally the penalty was very clear for me. I think everyone saw it. The only person that didn’t see it was the referee,” he said.