'Bale a phenomenon when he wants' - Spanish press in latest attack after Wales brace

The Real Madrid star netted a brace at the Cardiff City Stadium to help Wales get past Austria and advance to within 90 minutes of a first World Cup finals since 1958.

The 32-year-old scored a stunning free-kick, and later produced an unstoppable finish in the top corner leaving goalkeeper Heinz Lindner with no chance.

His performance came after Spanish newspaper had previously called the Welshman a 'parasite', accusing the forward of 'sucking' money out of the LaLiga giants.

Bale is in the final year of a six-season deal at Los Blancos and reportedly earns £15million a year, and yet has been a bit part player in recent seasons due to injuries and having fallen out of favour with managers.

The Madrid star slammed Marca in his post-match interview, saying he pays no mind to the 'disgusting' reports in Spain.

"I don't need to send a message [to his critics in Spain], honestly," Bale said.

"It's a waste of my time. It's disgusting and they should also be ashamed of themselves. I'm not fussed. End of".

After the match, the headline of the Marca's match report read: "Bale is a phenomenon when he wants to be."

Wales now go onto to face either Scotland or Ukraine for a place in the World Cup finals in June - a game which has been delayed due to the war in the latter's country.

Marca then wrote: "Bale will have to again demonstrate he is a star, a thing which in Madrid he has not wanted to show for around the last three years", relating to the upcoming Qatar 2022 showdown.

The front page of the publication claimed Bale had 'recovered', but mainly focussed on Italy's 1-0 defeat to North Macedonia.

Madrid-based newspaper AS went with the headline: "Ya Le Bale", a play on words which made for positive and negative reading.

It translates as 'that'll do now' or 'that's enough', but also hints at the performance being 'that's ok for him'.

The front page plays on the forward's name sounding like the Spanish word 'vale', which translates in English to 'OK', and is a snide comment meaning 'oh, he cares' [about Wales].

But they could not resist a mention regarding El Clasico, claiming the star 'dropped out' of the 4-0 defeat to Barcelona at the weekend.

It wasn't all damning for the Welshman, however, with publication also saying he 'gave a lesson in how to be decisive'.

Bale has played just one LaLiga match since August, having been out with knee, calf, back and muscular injuries as well as a positive Covid-19 test.

He is expected to leave Madrid on a free transfer this summer after nine years in the Spanish capital, with a move back to the Premier League looking to be on the cards.