Once upon a time, Gareth Bale's move to Real Madrid was considered a dream.


And, when you boil it down purely to the numbers, Bale has been sensational for Madrid, but, unfortunately, there is so much more to it than mere statistics.

The winger has lurched from one bad injury to the next, spending massive chunks of his career on the physio's bench rather than on the field.

His spat with Zinedine Zidane boiled over into the public sphere and he was seen playing golf having supposedly been left out of a matchday squad due to 'illness'.


Finally, when he was seen celebrating Wales' qualification for Euro 2020 with a flag that read; "Wales, Golf, Madrid... In that order", it really was the final straw for the Madrid faithful.

Unsurprisingly, Bale was relentlessly booed during Madrid's weekend clash with Real Sociedad as the fed-up fans whistled and jeered his every touch.

It was possibly Bale's toughest day in a Madrid shirt.

That being said, Bale has simply joined a long list of stars who have been left in no doubt about the fans feelings towards them.

Some of the clubs biggest names have felt the full fury that can cascade down from the Bernabeu terraces and so we decided to list some of the other stars to have really irked the Madrid fans.

Alfredo Di Stefano

Didn't see that one coming, did you?

Di Stefano was possibly the greatest player to ever pull on a Madrid shirt, but, after appearing in a print add advertising ladies stockings in 1962, Madrid fans really let him have it.

Di Stefano was booed and jeered at every turn in their next home game against Athletic Club, but his two goals went a long way towards silencing his critics.

Cristiano Ronaldo



That's right, him too.

Even the clubs finest ever goalscorer wasn't immune to the fickle nature of the Madrid fans, who regularly booed the superstar in the 2016/17 season.

Zinedine Zidane was eventually forced to publicly defend him after Ronaldo complained, "This never happened in Manchester and I don't like it."

Iker Casillas

Oh look, it's only Madrid's finest goalkeeper of all time and possibly their most loved and adored captain.

His final days at the club were difficult though, and the notoriously demanding fans weren't shy to let him know that his time was coming to an end.

When he was seen mouthing "Shove your whistles up your backsides", in 2015, it really was time up for the legendary stopper.

Michel



Michel was a Madridista through and through and so when he was booed by his beloved fans in 1989, he broke down and walked off.

"It's like if your father scolds you every day and even on your wedding day," he told Cadena SER.

He managed to recover from that debacle but things were never the same for the Spaniard, and he was brutally jeered again two years later.

Juanito


Even one of the most loved players to have ever graced the Bernabeu turf can tell a tale or two of getting on the wrong side of the fans.

He took the fans ire in his stride though, claiming:

"The whistles hurt, but maybe it's better than silence," he said in late 1981.

"The day the fans shut up completely if I make a mistake, that would really sink me."

Emilio Butragueno

Now a director at the club, Butragueno came out in defence of Bale on Saturday night.

Having himself been the victim of a Bernabeu boo storm in 1994, the club legend will know exactly what Bale was feeling as the jeers rang out around the famous stadium.

Sadly the list doesn't end there, with the likes of Kaka, Karim Benzema, Hugo Sanchez, Guti, Fernando Hierro, Martin Vasquez, and Manuel Velasquez all receiving similar treatment during their Madrid careers.


The Bernabeu is a frightfully difficult place to keep on side, and, while playing for Madrid is considered a massive honour, it is by no means a walk in the park.

The fans are capable of turning on any player at the drop of a hat, regardless of status or previous performances.

Sadly for Bale, once you've lost this lot, it is an almighty slog to get them back.

Perhaps it's time to get Jose Mourinho on the phone and book a flight back to London, Gareth.