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Real Madrid have now gone 222 days without stars Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema starting together

The Los Blancos trio have not started a match for Real during the 2017/18 season and only started 16 out of 60 games together last season

IT has been 222 days since Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema started a game together.

Los Blancos trio have not started a match for Real during the 2017/18 season and only started 16 out of 60 games together last season.

 The Real Madrid trio have not featured together all season
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 The Real Madrid trio have not featured together all seasonCredit: Getty - Contributor

Bale returned to the pitch at the weekend for a Copa del Rey clash against Fuenlabrada after missing the last two months with both calf and hamstring setbacks.

However the 28-year-old's recover took a turn for the worse as an another knock to his calf during the win means he will now be absent for next weekend’s La Liga game against Athletic Bilbao.

Speaking after the game, Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane said: "I'm so happy for Gareth, Keylor [Navas] and Mateo [Kovacic] because they have been out for a while.

"They are important players and seeing that they are ready for these next games makes me happy."

 Bale has missed over 43 per cent of Real's games since his world-record move in 2013
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Bale has missed over 43 per cent of Real's games since his world-record move in 2013Credit: Getty Images
Real Madrid squad including Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos model new Hugo Boss suits

It spells more bad news for Bale, who has missed over 43 per cent of Real’s games since his move to the Bernabeu.

Despite only featuring ten times for Madrid this season, Bale has more assists than any other player at the club in the current campaign (five), while he has also scored three goals.

Speaking prior to the cup game, Zidane admitted he wanted to see his BBC strikeforce back together.

He said: "I want to see Cristiano, Bale and Benzema playing together again."

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