Bale Rescues Ronaldo-less Real Madrid At Rayo

Real Madrid C.F. was without Cristiano Ronaldo but Gareth Bale stepped up and delivered after Madrid had gone 2-0 down to Rayo Vallecano. He struck twice to inspire a Real Madrid fightback from two goals down to win 3-2 at Rayo Vallecano and move top of La Liga on Saturday.

Real Madrid Coach Zinedine Zidane  Immidiately after the match confirmed Ronaldo will travel for the Champions League semi-final first leg against Manchester City.

Bale inspired Real Madrid to come from two goals down to win 3-2 at Rayo Vallecano in a testing workout ahead of the UEFA Champions League clash with Manchester City. Without the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, Real’s title hopes looked in tatters when early goals from Adrian Embarba and Miku put Rayo 2-0 in front.

"Cristiano wanted to play tomorrow but I told him that he needs to rest." - Zidane

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane says the Portuguese will miss Saturday's game against Rayo Vallecano and wants him to be careful ahead of Tuesday's Champions League encounter

Zidane accepted that Cristiano Ronaldo's desire to play every game can be an issue and says he will be monitored "day-to-day" before they will know if he can play against Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The Portuguese  international will miss Saturday's La Liga encounter at Rayo Vallecano due to a thigh problem, but the prolific attacker would have played had the decision been up to him.

Zidane: "Cristiano always wants to play but he knows he can't play tomorrow. If it were a final he still couldn't play."

— Real Madrid Info (@RMadridInfo) April 22, 2016

Zidane: "We did the scans and Cristiano has nothing serious, but he can't play tomorrow. We'll see what happens before City's match."

— Real Madrid Info (@RMadridInfo) April 22, 2016