Real Madrid bossZinedine Zidane has expressed his happiness to see "special player" Gareth Bale make his goal scoringreturn from injury in the comfortable 2-0 victory over Espanyol.
The Welsh superstar had been injured since picking up an ankle injury in the Champions League victory over Sporting CP way back in November. However, it didn't take long for Bale to make an impact.
In a 20 minute run out, the Welshman managed to open his account for 2017 as helatched onto Isco's through ball and powered the ball across Diego Lopez into the far corner of the goal to double the lead and seal a 2-0 victory for Los Blancos.
Vamosss!!! absolutely loved being back on that Bernabeu pitch! Thanks to all the fans for the amazing welcome back ⚽�� #halamadrid pic.twitter.com/UwYOatf6Xw
The Frenchman said he was pleased with the 27 year-old's display on his return.
According to Sky SportsZidane said, "I am happy for his return, but above all for him. He wanted to be back with us, on the pitch again, to feel like a player.
"Gareth is Gareth. We have just one Gareth. He is a special player, of course, different to the others. But each one brings his grain of sand to the team. That is important."
Real Madrid alsoset a new club record of scoring in 42 consecutive games and Zidane reiterated his happiness that this record emphasised the importance of the whole team contributing to the goal tally rather than relying on four timeBallon d'Or winnerCristiano Ronaldo.
Record! Real Madrid have scored in 42 consecutive games in all competitions for the first time in their history. ï’ª #UCL pic.twitter.com/mk1hCUD1Zo
Zidane said: "We know he is like this. He always scores, so when he doesn't we might see that [frustration]. He does not look anxious to me, he is fine, happy. This game was the same as against Napoli, he ran a lot for his team-mates. I am not concerned, he will make differences in key moments for us.
Unbelievable stat: Under Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 47 goals in 49 games. Can't fathom how people claim he's past it.
"I am happy as this [goalscoring record] means that they are all committed to what we are doing. It is more difficult with players who play less, but you did not notice that."
"We have 24 very good players who are happy to be able to help the team when their moment comes. It is important that they feel that way. We will have many games and will need them all. We have two away games coming up, on Wednesday [at Valencia] and at the weekend [at Villarreal] which are very important and will be difficult. So we need them all."
Real Madrid with Zinedine Zidane at the Bernabéu:
¢ 32 Games
¢ 27 Wins
¢ 3 Draws
¢ 2 Defeats
¢ 100 Goals
¢ 26 Conceded pic.twitter.com/zW0Wd20r8O