The La Liga title race took another big twist last night as Barcelona replaced Real Madrid at the top of the table.
While Luis Enrique’s side cruised to a 6-1 win over Sporting Gijon, Los Blancos required a three-minute brace from Cristiano Ronaldo to secure a 3-3 draw against Las Palmas.
Last night’s results leave Barca with a one-point lead, although Madrid have a game in hand.
Zinedine Zidane’s outfit appear incredibly vulnerable at present. They were beaten by Valencia last month and trailed Villarreal 2-0 at the weekend before staging a comeback.
And they trailed Las Palmas 3-1 until the 86th minute on Wednesday, until Ronaldo turned up to rescue a point.
Madrid’s performance disgruntled Zidane, although he was keen to stress that there’s no need to panic just yet.
"We weren't how I would have liked,” the Frenchman admitted, via Marca. “We should have gone to kill off the game, to go for the second or third goal, but we let our opponent back in the game. If you leave them to have the ball, they are tough to deal with.
"But we don't have to drive ourselves crazy, because we have done some good things. We have to analyse things again and think about what we are going to change. And we are going to do it.”
Bale's furious red
The turning point was Bale’s sending off. The score was 1-1 when the Welshman was shown two yellow cards in a matter of seconds - the first for tripping Jonathan Viera, and then for pushing the Las Palmas player to the floor.
Video: Bale gets sent off
It was an uncharacteristic moment from the 27-year-old. Zidane can ill-afford to lose his best players through unnecessary suspensions.
He apologised to teammates
Bale knew of his error and apologised to his teammates afterwards, according to the Madrid boss.
“He has asked for forgiveness, he isn't happy with the red card but it is what it is," the 44-year-old added.
It seems as though Bale was irked by something Viera said to him. Replays showed that the Las Palmas forward placed a hand on the former Tottenham Hotspur man, but it would be surprising if that was the sole cause of Bale’s reaction.
Bale's interpretation of events
Bale, who has only started 13 league games this season, explained the incident to Real Madrid TV at the end of the game.
“I don't believe that it was deserving of a red card,” he said. “I was shown the yellow for the foul, I was then pushed and I just pushed him back.
“I want to apologise to the team and the fans. I hope to learn from my mistake.”
Spanish officials will now decide how long to ban Bale for. He’s certain to miss this weekend’s game at Eibar.
