Gareth Bale was not fit to travel with Real Madrid for their friendly with Tottenham in Munich, according to manager Zinedine Zidane.
The Welshman missed the game, which Spurs won 1-0, following the collapse of his proposed move to China.
Real president Florentino Perez blocked him from joining Jiangsu Suning even though Zidane said his exit would be “best for everyone”.
It was thought Bale was not in the right mental state to travel to Munich.
But Zidane said after the game: “He didn’t travel because he wasn’t fit.
“After speaking with the doctors, the best thing was for him to stay in Madrid. He stayed back and is training there. It was a joint decision between the player, medical staff and the coach.”
Bale – who has scored 102 goals in 231 games for Real – appears to be out of favour with Zidane, who had said he was “very close to leaving” last week.
