Pundits are wondering if Gareth Bale’s omission from the squad that travelled to Malaga on Sunday is an indication that Real Madrid are looking to move the Welsh striker on this summer.

While Zinedine Zidane insisted that Bale was ‘“rested” for the game at La Rosaleda, European football journalist, Graham Hunter, is speculating that leaving Bale out of the 3-2 win at the weekend was a clear sign that Real plan to move him on.

Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Raphael Varane were also left at home with the all-important Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich just around the corner. However, Bale has only played a minor part in the Champions League knockout phase, clocking 81 minutes in four games, and the Malaga game would have been an ideal opportunity to give the Welshman more playing time.

Hunter believes that Real Madrid are eyeing events at Paris Saint-Germain where FFP rules means a number of players will have to leave the French club. With Neymar and Mpbappe possible targets, Hunter thinks the decision has been made that Bale will be the man to make way if a move for either player is to come off.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Revista De La Liga, Hunter said: “Bale is left out, he’s not even travelled to Malaga, when he has not been a starter for Real Madrid in the Champions League.

“You’d have thought this was tailor-made for Gareth Bale. He didn’t even travel, Zidane has made it clear it wasn’t about injury, it was about what he said was ‘rest’.

“I read the situation directly as Real Madrid looking at PSG, the fact it is widely accepted they will need to have a fire sale to meet financial fair play criteria, and Madrid are lining themselves up to ask Bale, as they did last summer: ‘Wouldn’t you be happier somewhere else, sir?’

“Last summer he roundly said no to them, and that’s the reason they couldn’t buy Kylian Mbappe. There is a vague possibility the fire sale at PSG could include Neymar, possibly Mbappe, not both but one or the other, and Real want to be in a position to vie for that, elbow people out of the way.

“So this wasn’t tactical, this wasn’t resting Bale so he will be in primary shape for the Bayern semi-final, this was an indication to him that even Zinedine Zidane is prepared to say: ‘Gareth, you’ve done well, but perhaps your time is up here.’ I don’t see any other way to read that decision.”

Where to next for Gareth Bale?

Three-time Champions League winner Bale has only made 16 appearances for Real Madrid in La Liga this season fuelling speculation that a return to the Premier League could be on the cards.

Manchester United have shown interest in the past and could come in for the 28-year-old again. Bookmaker Paddy Power bet 15/8 Bale will sign for United before the deadline on 3rd September with Inter Milan (5/1) and Tottenham (10/1) prominent in the betting.

Real Madrid are said to be big admirers of Harry Kane at Tottenham but dealing with owner Daniel Levy has proven difficult in the past. A return to North London may suit Bale at this stage of his career and an exchange deal involving the two might be a possibility if Kane is prepared to uproot his family at this stage of his career.

Bale has a contract which ties him to Real Madrid until 2022 and may resist any attempts to relinquish his services unless another club is prepared to match his salary. While returning to England is a logical option, it may not be easy to find a Premier League club other than Man Utd who would be prepared to meet his demands.

There’s no limit to the ambitions of Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo who is reported to have named a shortlist of players who must be replaced by better quality in the summer.

It’s alleged that the Portuguese striker has grown dissatisfied with the quality of Real’s first team and has issued a warning to the club president that he will leave if squad improvements aren’t made.

Spanish website Dario Gol is reporting that Ronaldo has named a handful of players who must either leave or be replaced as first team choices. They say Ronaldo was frustrated that the club failed to find high quality replacements for Alvaro Morata and Pepe who departed Real Madrid last summer. James Rodriguez was also allowed to go out on loan without a better option coming in.

Following Real’s disappointing campaigns in La Liga and Copa del Rey, Dario Gol say Ronaldo laid down an ultimatum to Florentino Perez, threatening to walk out if club does not make changes to improve the current squad.

Which players are on Ronaldo’s shortlist to leave?

According to the Spanish outlet, the 33-year-old believes Real Madrid must sign a new goalkeeper and demote Keylor Navas to number two. It’s said that Manchester United’s David de Gea remains the favoured option, however Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois and Jan Oblak, from rivals Atletico Madrid, have also been linked.

It adds that Ronaldo believes the first team needs fresh blood across the defence and that Real should be chasing a top class centre-back to play alongside Sergio Ramos. It’s said he doesn’t consider Raphael Varane and Nacho Fernandez good enough for first choice and that back-up Jesus Vallejo should be moved on.

Dario Gol also allege Ronaldo wants better competition for the fill back slots currently occupied by Dani Carvajal and Marcelo.

It’s claimed that Ronaldo does not get along with Isco and would prefer to see Rodriguez return from his loan spell with Bayern Munich, however that deal still has a year to run.

Karim Benzema’s position is another that Ronaldo apparently wants to be upgraded, but like Navas, prefers the Frenchman to be part of the squad and not sold. A surprise name thrown into the hat is Wissam Ben Yedder, the Sevilla forward who scored twice to eliminate Manchester United from Europe last month.

Gareth Bale is expected to leave the Bernabeu at the end of the season and his departure frees up another slot in the forward line. It’s already rumoured that Real Madrid have shown interest in former Barcelona and current Paris Saint Germain star Neymar while Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah are also thought to be on the club’s radar.

Cristiano Ronaldo had no doubts that he would convert the late penalty to take Real Madrid to the semi-finals of the 2018 Champions League.

Juventus had managed to claw back Real’s 3-0 first leg lead and stood on the brink of pulling off one of the most remarkable comebacks in Champions League history. Then in the 97th minute, with the quarter-final tie heading into extra time, English referee Michael Oliver awarded Real Madrid a penalty for Mehdi Benatia’s foul on Lucas Vazquez.

Ronaldo looked coolness personified as he stepped up to drive the ball into the top corner and take holders Real into the last four of the competition. It was Ronaldo’s 41st goal of the season and his 11th in consecutive games.

The Portugal captain told reporters at the end of the game: “The pulse increased, but I calmed down, and I knew I would be decisive.”

Real boss Zinedine Zidane said he was equally positive as he watched the three-goal first leg league disappear.

The Frenchman said: “They played well in the first leg and perhaps deserved a goal. Today it was the same for us.

“They scored early on like we did there and this is football. The Champions League is the creme de la creme and anything can happen.

“We were always going to suffer and be pressed high. They did that and played wonderfully well and their coach’s plan worked.

“I never thought we were going out, I am a positive thinker. I never believed we weren’t going through.”

The penalty decision caused uproar in the Juventus team. Captain Gianluigi Buffon was given a red card for taking his protestations too far as he saw his Champions League dream die over what he claimed to be a “dubious incident”.

The veteran goalkeeper still hadn’t calmed down after the match when speaking to Italian TV, saying that Oliver should “sit in the stands eating crisps” for making the decision and saying the ref has “a bag of rubbish for a heart”.

Real’s number 7 saw the incident differently. “I don’t understand why they are protesting, Lucas was tackled from behind and if they don’t give him the penalty, it is a goal” he said.

Los Blancos can now look forward to the Champions League semi-final draw on Friday when they go into the hat with Roma, Liverpool and Bayern Munich. In betting odds, Real are currenty 13/8 favourite to win their third consecutive Champions League title. 2013 winners Bayern Munich are 15/8, Liverpool 4/1 and Roma, who eliminated Spanish rivals Barcelona, are the outsiders at 11/1.

By the standards of most teams, Real Madrid’s season has been good. Third in La Liga, they’ve also lifted the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA World Club Cup, are assured of Champions League qualification, and have reached the last eight in Europe this time around.

However, Real are not most teams. This is a club that never settles for second best, let alone third best, which is why their domestic performances have put Zinedine Zidane under intense pressure and led to kilometres of speculative newspaper columns on what has gone wrong.

The signs were there early on. Draws against Valencia and Levante in their opening three games allowed Barcelona to establish an early lead in La Liga, and the gap has continued to widen. Worse still, Atlético Madrid have overtaken Zidane’s men, who spent the period from late November to late February in fourth place, and who are now 15 points off the pace set by Barcelona and four points behind our city rivals. Add in defeats to Real Betis, Girona, Espanyol and Villarreal, and an embarrassing Copa del Rey exit at the hands of Leganés, and you have a recipe for discontent and the blueprint for a disappointing season.

The cause of this slump is not one single factor but a couple of separate issues that have combined to reduce the team’s effectiveness. Rumours of dressing room unrest, focusing on Ronaldo and Ramos, may simply be a side effect of the tension produced by poor results on the pitch, but it has not helped the team to improve.

The poor form of the front three – Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema – has also proved damaging. Real depend on a gameplan that involves getting the ball to their attacking trio as quickly as possible. This season, Real have averaged 2.5 goals per game, compared to 2.8 last season, and that modest drop in output has been enough to see Real’s standards slip. When the star trio fail to produce goals at the usual rate, it puts pressure on the rest of the team, which is why Real are conceding 1.13 goals per game compared with 1.08 last season.

Yet while La Liga may be a lost cause, European glory remains a possibility. Real came through a tough test against Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 to set up another quarter-final – their eighth consecutive appearance in the last eight – and keep open the possibility of making history. This time, their disappointing domestic performance means that they are generally rated as fourth-favourites to win the competition with online bookmakers, and Real fans who bet on Stakers.com should be able to get good odds on their team progressing.

If they can lift the trophy at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev in May, Real will set a new record. Having become the first team to retain the Champions League when they beat Juventus 4-1 in the final last season, they would score a unique treble of consecutive Champions League titles to go with their record five European Cups, won consecutively between 1956 and 1960, to confirm them as the greatest club side in European history.

However, first there is the matter of Juventus to deal with. To get past the Italian champions, Real will have to draw on their memory of victory over the Serie A side in last year’s final, but more importantly, they will have to replicate and improve on the impressive performance against Paris Saint-Germain that enabled them to reach the last eight. Against the fancied French side, Real pressed and harassed their opponents with intensity, while Ronaldo put in a vintage performance and key creative players Kroos and Asensio made significant contributions.

As Juventus showed against Tottenham, they have the resilience and experience required to win this competition, but Real can match them for both qualities. Perhaps the most significant aspect of their performance against Paris Saint-Germain was the strength of character they showed after going 1-0 down on 33 minutes in the first leg, battling back to secure a decisive 3-1 victory, and then following that up with a gritty effort in Paris.

A reproduction of that level of commitment and intensity would give them a great chance of reaching the semi-finals. Beyond that, an encounter with any of the sides remaining in the competition would be tough but should be the kind of challenge that the Real players would relish, and the possibility of Zidane’s men salvaging their season by beating Barcelona in the Champions League final is an idea to tantalise the imagination of Real fans!