Sports Burst – Planet Gripped By Bale Hysteria
Gareth Bale stalked on trip to London as Real Madrid prepares for return to La Liga against Leganes
by Tim Stannard
More rumors of Gareth Bale leaving Madrid as team faces bottom of the table Leganes in Wednesday LaLiga action
The actual story was that Gareth Bale was travelling to England on Monday to return on Tuesday with the permission and awareness of Real Madrid and Coach Zizou.
"He's away because he is injured," shrugged Real Madrid's French boss at a press conference ahead of today's LaLiga clash against Leganes.
All very simple.
However, the Welshman's layover in London ended up inciting some kind of national sporting hysteria surrounding the player. On Tuesday A TV crew was in the city to film the footballer going about his business which included a visit to the office of his agent.
Was he negotiating a winter move to the Chinese Super League, as claimed in Tuesday's press? Was he checking out the new office Keurig?
No, said an increasingly irritated Zidane who claimed the footballer was not going anywhere - "it's a very simple case. I'm not giving you BS."
But why was he injured? Why was there no injury report? Is Bale in favor of Brexit? "I don't have a clue," declared Bale.
There were even cameras waiting for the footballer at the airport as Bale returned to Madrid.
All very strange.
Clearly, Bale is not involved in Madrid's home encounter against Leganes - a mini city derby - but an awful lot of players are as Coach Zizou looks to match the ease of Barcelona's 5-1 victory over Valladolid against a team with just the single league victory this season. What could possibly go wrong?
Real Madrid v Leganes is live, live, live on beIN SPORTS at 4:15PM ET / 1:15PM PT.
Chicharito time as Sevilla heads to Mestalla
And that means CHICHARITO TIME! The Mexican striker hit the back of the hit last Sunday and he has a fairly chance of doing it again in Mestalla against a Valencia side that is once again having a bit of a Netflix show of a season.
Elsewhere in the wide, wide world of soccer and Arsenal needed a morale-boosting match to get over the 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace which saw Granit Xhaka being booed by his own fans. Unfortunately, Arsenal are not getting that and face an evening in Anfield against Liverpool in the League Cup.
In Serie A, Juventus need to blow off a few cobwebs after the weekend’s draw at Lecce. Genoa can expect a big 1-0 defeat as Juve goes to town in Turin.
World Series goes down to the wire as Nationals tie at 3-3
'Merica delivered the drama and the tension on Tuesday night. In sport as well, as well as the thrilling goings on with Jethro and co in NCIS that Sports Burst was referring to in the apparently never-ending saga of Navy related crime going on across the country.
Someone should look into that.
In baseball, some TV executives were whooping with joy as the World Series went to a seventh game after the Washington Nationals defeated the loveable, huggable Houston Astros 7-2 in Texas.
It is the first time in World Series history that a visiting team has won all six opening games. The players are back again tonight in Houston for a winner-takes-all final.
It was Shock City in the MLS Western Conference playoff final with LAFC seeing a season of work being whooshed around the sporting U-bend with a 3-1 home defeat to the Seattle Sounders. It was a Zlatan-pleasing night where LAFC "weren't good enough" according to head coach Bob Bradley.
LAFC ended the season top of the Supporters Shield Standings with a 16-point lead over the Sounders who are now in their third MLS Cup final in four years. The Sounders will either face Atlanta United or Toronto FC who face off on Wednesday night.
