Gareth Bale will miss Real Madrid’s clash with Espanyol as Wales face anxious wait over his fitness
GARETH BALE will miss tonight's clash with Espanyol through injury.
Zinedine Zidane had insisted he would give the Welshman every chance after he was forced off during the Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund in midweek.
The forward, 28, was withdrawn from Real's 18-man squad after failing to recover from muscle fatigue in his left calf.
Despite the fitness doubt, SunSport understands Bale will report with Chris Coleman's men in Cardiff on Monday ahead of Friday's crunch World Cup qualifier against Georgia in Tbilisi.
Bale limped off late on in last week's Champions League 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund and has not taken a full part in Real training since.
Real boss Zinedine Zidane, who originally cited the issue as 'cramp', said on Saturday the problem was 'nothing serious' and he would not take 'any risks' prior to the Bernabeu fixture.
Now Wales, whose medical and conditioning team will assess Bale at their Vale of Glamorgan HQ, will pray the extra rest and precautionary measures taken by his club allows their talisman to start in the must-win Group D tie.
However, whether Bale will be able to play 180 minutes in back-to-back qualifiers - with a home clash against the Republic of Ireland to come three days later - remains to be seen.
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Zidane insisted he had no problem with Bale reporting for his country as Real and Wales have grown a strong relationship since the ex-Tottenham star moved to Spain in the summer of 2013.
Wales, who are second in Group D behind leaders Serbia and need two wins to at least book a World Cup play-off spot, travel to Georgia on Wednesday.
Now Dragons fans face an anxious wait to see how Bale's condition develops in the next 48 hours.