No Space For Bale To Repeat Cup Final Heroics

catch me if you can

The distance between the touchline and the first row of fans at Eibar's cosy stadium is a measly 95 cm, so we can rule out a repeat of Gareth Bale's incredible Copa del Rey final winner.

During that iconic run in Valencia, the Welshman veered so far off the pitch that he actually set foot in the technical area. If the final had been staged at Ipurúa rather than the Mestalla, Bale would have had to hurdle the seats in the away dugout - located just 50 cm from the sideline - while Marc Bartra would have faced a much easier task to block the Real Madrid speedster's path along the warm-up area.

Leaving aside the playing surface, Eibar's ground is cauldron-like because of its compact layout, which leaves the supporters breathing down the players' necks.

And you can rest assured the place will be rocking for Real Madrid's visit. No one wants to miss the occasion: the club has been inundated with media requests and tickets have been sold out for a week, meaning all 5,907 seats - a figure bolstered this season by the installation of temporary stands - will be occupied.

The Basque minnows had as few as 350 tickets to put on general sale, at prices ranging from €40 to €90, and these were all snapped up on the first day. Some fans had even camped out by the stadium overnight to make absolutely sure they would get to see the European champions.

Real internationals back in town

ONLY BALE WORKED WITH THE GROUP

Real Madrid saw the return of all their international players on Wednesday, although only Welshman Gareth Bale made an appearance at the group training session.

Portuguese forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, who played a friendly with his national team against Argentina in Manchester (Great Britain) on Tuesday, was also out on the pitch at the Valdebebas, albeit, according to the club, to get in some running, separate from his teammates.

The rest of the internationals who returned to the Spanish capital remained inside the Real Madrid Ciudad Deportiva facilities for their workouts.

Meanwhile, Croatian midfielder, Luka Modric, continued working towards recovering from "a tear of the left proximal rectus femoris tendon" which will see him out of action for between two to three months.