Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane denied his decision to leave Gareth Bale out of the squad was a message to him, with Los Blancos beating Villarreal 3-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.

A brace from Mariano and Jesus Vallejo’s close-range strike ultimately gave the home side all three points, although Villarreal had been on level terms
through Gerard Moreno and created numerous chances before Jaume Costa scored in the fourth minute of injury time.

Despite Karim Benzema being ruled out through injury, Bale was deemed surplus to requirements by Zidane, fuelling speculation that Bale will leave the Bernabeu in the summer.

“I’m the coach, I have to pick the team and that’s all there is to it,” Zidane said.

Watch what else the Real boss had to say on Bale in the video above