Gareth Bale: Is Real Madrid's Wales forward lacking spark?

Let's take a look at Bale's night in numbers...

• 0 - shots on target, tackles and chances created. Although the Welshman did have one shot blocked.
• 18 - total passes - the fewest of all Real's players, and three fewer than the total made by goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
• 32 - total touches - again the fewest of any Real player, including Casillas, who had 36 touches of the ball.

What's wrong with Bale?

Real manager Carlo Ancelotti blamed fatigue for Bale's poor performance. "He was tired," said the Italian, who said he substituted the Welshman late on to protect him.

"He's just back from injury and he's too important for us," explained Ancelotti.

"He's our most dangerous player. Because he was tired, I just preferred not to take any risks, so I took him off."

Former Chelsea and Scotland winger Pat Nevin was BBC Radio 5 live's summariser at the Juventus Stadium. He suggested Bale's display indicated problems with fellow striker Cristiano Ronaldo.

"Personality-wise, Ronaldo bosses things at Real Madrid," Nevin said. "If there are two balls on - Ronaldo or Bale - they give the ball to Ronaldo. Bale has to be a big strong character, but it's almost impossible to take that off Ronaldo, who, I feel, thinks of Bale as a threat.

"That must be hard to deal with. Bale and Ronaldo have absolutely no understanding whatsoever. That's not really good enough for a centre-forward partnership. James Rodriguez was poor, too. He's another perhaps playing in the shadow of Ronaldo.

"I don't think Bale is 100% fit. We know he has incredible pace. Ordinarily, four or five times a game he will let rip and burn off past defenders. Not once did we see that today."

Former Manchester United and England defender Phil Neville told BBC Radio 5 live Bale's performance was down to confidence.

"Getting the ball in the second half, Bale looked short on confidence," he said. "Normally he would turn and run straight at the defender, but instead he would turn out and pass it back. That is not the Bale we know."

'The easy option, every time'

Bale did not escape the attention of former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland midfielder Keane either, who said: "Bale kept making the easy decision.

"The reason he's at Real Madrid is to be brave and get at people. Every time he got at people, even on one-on-ones, he turned back.

"His team-mates can't be happy with him because he took the easy option every time."

'No witch-hunt but optimism fading'

Spanish football writer Andy West: "Bale actually headed into the game on a positive note after playing well from the bench on his comeback from injury in Saturday's win at Sevilla, creating the winner for Ronaldo with a good cross.

"But the optimism generated by that promising cameo display has now quickly been forgotten, with the focus returning to his overall lack of productivity over a worryingly long period of time.

"Bale has struggled throughout this calendar year, often failing to make a meaningful impact upon the action and appearing unable to involve himself in the general flow of a game.

"It's certainly not the case - yet - that he is the victim of a witch-hunt or that he is forced to play in an atmosphere of negativity: most people genuinely want him to succeed and justify all the chances he is being given.

"However, Madrid fans are aware that arguably their team's best two performances of the season - a Champions League win at Liverpool and a league victory over Barcelona - came when Bale was sidelined through injury.

"And although he put a lot of credit in the bank with his spectacular trophy-winning goal against Barcelona in last season's Copa del Rey final, that is now starting to run dry and there is growing impatience that a record signing isn't delivering the goods more regularly - especially when fan favourite Isco is being left out or substituted."

The view in Spain - how the papers saw it

In the immediate aftermath of Tuesday's defeat in Turin the Spanish media focused on defender Sergio Ramos after his poor display in midfield.

But Bale still came in for some criticism, with newspaper Marca saying: "Madrid needed something to light a spark. It wasn't going to be Bale, who was switched off all night."

Meanwhile, AS's player-by-player ratings  were far from flattering in their assessment of Bale's display.

They said: "The Welshman was lost, without entering into the game, without space to run into. To play this system, it would have been much better to start with Chicharito [Javier Hernandez].

"The Mexican creates space, not like Bale who is always static. And on the right he didn't do anything either."

So who is going through?

"Juventus can finish the job in the second leg," Nevin said. "I'm not saying they will but they can.

"Remember they are the champions of Italy and that success has been built on defence. They have had a great season.

"Have a look at how they have got through to this stage of the competition - they have not given away many goals, they can set up the team to ensure they do not give away many goals away but hit on the break. The penalty they scored tonight came after a classic break.

"I would still say that they are probably slight underdogs - but only slightly - and I would not be shocked, or even mildly surprised, if they managed to get a draw out of the game."

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said he was "very happy" with his side's performance and that his players had "proved how strong they are".

"We'll have to put on a master show at Madrid," he added. "We'll now start preparing for Wednesday, knowing that we have to play even better than tonight."

/By BBC/