Gareth Bale was seen laughing at Eden Hazard after his Real Madrid teammate was instructed to sit back down on the bench after warming up during Thursday’s Copa del Rey quarter-final against Athletic Bilbao.Bale and Hazard were both left on the bench for the full 90 minutes by Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti.Los Blancos were dumped out of the competition when Alex Berenguer popped up with the winning goal for Athletic in the 89th minute.Ancelotti made two substitutions during the game: Isco for Vinicius Jr, who’d just returned from international duty with Brazil, in the 60th minute and Eduardo Camavinga for Toni Kroos in the 76th minute.Hazard, who has scored one goal and provided two assists in 18 appearances for Madrid this season, was told to take his place back on the bench after warming up.For whatever reason, this appeared to amuse Bale, who was seen laughing at the Belgium international.“Whether it was sarcasm, disbelief or something completely unrelated, who knows, but at least the Welshman is smiling in spite of his situation,” Football Espana’s Jamie Kemble writes.

Video: Gareth Bale laughs at Eden Hazard on bench

The incident was captured on camera and broadcast by Spanish TV show El Chiringuito.

Bale laughs at Hazard

Watch the footage here:

Will Bale and Hazard still be at Real Madrid next season?

Bale, who was also an unused substitute in Real Madrid’s last La Liga fixture against Elche, knows exactly how his teammate would have felt in that moment.

That the Welshman is still a Madrid player in 2022, years after losing his position as a first-team regular, is quite baffling.

The 32-year-old’s contract finally expires at the end of the season and it’s unclear where he’ll resume his career after leaving the Bernabeu. 

Retirement has even been mooted as a potential option for the forward, who scored 16 goals in 34 games during a loan spell with Tottenham last season.

As for Hazard, it also wouldn’t be a shock to see him leave Madrid this summer following two-and-a-half underwhelming seasons in Spain following his £100 million move from Chelsea in 2019.

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