david_smith
Zinedine Zidane has targeted March 7th as a possible return date for Gareth Bale.
Real Madrid face Napoli away that night in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie, and Zidane will be hoping he has Bale available on the night.
The Welsh wizard is on the road to recovery from an ankle tendon injury, but has yet to rejoin full team training. The 27 year old suffered the injury in November against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League group stages.
Bale is likely to be eased back into the fold, but it seems that he will miss seven matches before the trip to Naples.
“I hope that Bale is back with us before the return leg against Napoli. He still has to return to team training, which is the most important thing.
“He’s fine. He’s working very well and looks determined.”
Madrid have coped well with the loss of Bale, and are currently one point clear at the summit of La Liga with two games in hand over Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
A return in early March for Bale is also bad news for Ireland, who welcome Wales to the Aviva in a crunch World Cup qualifying match on March 24th.
Bale is the star of Chris Coleman’s national side, and now looks set to be fit to line up against the boys in green in Dublin.
