Real Madrid boss Rafa Benitez pictured meeting Gareth Bale

Real Madrid manager Rafa Benitez travelled to Cardiff to meet Gareth Bale before Wales beat Belgium.

Wales' Gareth Bale

Image credit: Reuters

Bale’s first season at Real Madrid was always going to be a tough one to follow – he scored the winning goals in both the Copa del Rey and Champions League finals.

Real finished 2015 trophyless and as their season fell apart, the criticism of Bale grew.

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His treatment at Madrid has led to reports that he could be tempted to back to the Premier League – despite the man himself having said over and over again that he wants to stay in the Spanish capital.

Furthermore, new Real boss Rafa Benitez is said to want to build his team around Bale with current talisman Cristiano Ronaldo’s powers expected to wane now that he is 30.

Benitez was actually at Wales’s game with Belgium on Friday, where Bale scored the winner against the world’s second best team.

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And the former Liverpool manager warmly embraced the Wales forward ahead of the game – furthermore, AS claim he was hugely impressed by the winger’s match-winning exploits.

A great first meeting with the new coach then.

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