Zinedine Zidane insists Gareth Bale was taken off as a precaution in Real Madrid’s 3-2 win over Villarreal on Sunday.
Real fought back to win away from home to swiftly reclaim top spot in La Liga having seen Barcelona displace them hours earlier with their 2-1 victory at Atletico Madrid, though Zidane’s side had been on course to cede that position to Luis Enrique’s men heading into March having fallen two goals behind to their hosts.
Bale, back in the starting line-up for the first time since November, halved the deficit and the visitors then won a controversial penalty with 16 minutes remaining when Toni Kroos’ shot was blocked and flew up into the arm of the seemingly unsuspecting Bruno Soriano.
Villarreal’s boss Fran Escriba appeared to be dismissed for his protests, while two of their players on the bench were booked before Cristiano Ronaldo slammed in the equaliser from the resulting spot-kick and substitute Alvaro Morata headed in an 83rd-minute winner to complete the comeback.
The Frenchman was able to allay concerns over Bale after he came off late on having seemed to suffer another ankle injury.
Bale appeared to twist his ankle having miscued an attempt on goal late on, but walked off to be replaced by Lucas Vazquez – and Zidane insisted there was no major issue with the Wales winger.
“He’s just picked up a knock, that’s all there is to it,” he insisted.
Regarding the penalty to make it 2-2, Zidane added: “The players have said that it was a handball. I didn’t see it from where I was and I’ll never interfere with refereeing decisions. He awarded it and that’s that.
“We performed much better in the second half than we did in the first. We got into more scoring positions and ultimately we come away with three points against opposition that can make life tough for you. We’re happy to have taken three points against a great side.”
Though Zidane was able to deploy Karim Benzema, Ronaldo and Bale together in attack again, he conceded his other attacking options were worthy of more consideration after the roles they played in the Villarreal victory.