Zidane explains decision to leave Bale on the bench for Brugge clash

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane insists that "nothing happened" between him and Gareth Bale to influence his selection decision for the trip to Club Brugge, which saw the winger left on the bench.

Bale was left out of Madrid's 2-0 win over Espanyol at Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, with Zidane insisting that he had not trained at "the same intensity as his team-mates" ahead of the fixture.

The Wales international was drafted back into the Madrid squad for a Champions League clash with Club Brugge in Belgium on Wednesday, with their place in the knockout stages already confirmed.

The Blancos ran out 3-1 winners on the night thanks to goals from Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior and Luka Modric, as they finished runners-up in Group A behind Paris Saint Germain.

Bale was an unused substitute, with Zidane forced to justify his in-game changes at a press conference after the match.

He stated: "Nothing happened. I had to make three changes and I chose the others. That's it."

Zidane went on to express his delight over Vinicius' performance before insisting that Madrid must continue on their current trajectory to stay in the hunt for major trophies.

"We are happy for him [Vinicius], Rodrygo and Luka," he said. "We must continue, because we are in a good moment, at a good level. We must continue like this, in this line."

Summer signing Luka Jovic was handed a rare start at Jan Breydel Stadium, but he failed to add to his tally of one goal from 11 matches across all competitions.

The Serbia forward is already being linked with a move away from the Bernabeu after failing to replicate the same form he showed at Eintracht Frankfurt last season, with Arsenal among a number of clubs thought to be monitoring his situation.

However, Zidane attempted to shift some of the blame for Jovic's lack of form in his own direction, insisting he needs to play more regularly in order to build up confidence.

"He [Jovic] does not feel lost. He has played a good game, but the truth is that he has played little and a player has to play a lot to be well," Zidane added. 

"He has to keep working as he does because the problem is mine, not his. He has to work and respond when it's time to play. He's happy about his game and we'll see if he plays more, because he needs it, that's true."

Madrid will be back in La Liga action on Sunday when they take in a trip to the Mestalla to face Valencia, three days before the first Clasico of the season against Barcelona at Camp Nou.