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I love Spain, aside from the spiders: Bale

MADRID — Gareth Bale has revealed that the only thing he does not like about playing for Real Madrid is being embarrassed by his superstar team-mates in training and dealing with Spanish spiders.

Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale (left) insists in FourFourTwo magazine that he is loving life in La Liga, although he still finds being called a Galactico a bit  surreal. Photo: AP

Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale (left) insists in FourFourTwo magazine that he is loving life in La Liga, although he still finds being called a Galactico a bit  surreal. Photo: AP

MADRID — Gareth Bale has revealed that the only thing he does not like about playing for Real Madrid is being embarrassed by his superstar team-mates in training and dealing with Spanish spiders.

Bale, who has been repeatedly linked with a return to the Premier League with Manchester United, insists in the latest edition of FourFourTwo magazine that he is loving life in La Liga, although he still finds being called a Galactico a bit surreal.

Having found a British food section at the local supermarket that even “does baked beans”, Bale does not sound like a player who is keen to return to the hustle and bustle of English football.

But there are a few things other than the lack of PG Tips teabags that he resents about living in the Spanish capital, and the fear of humiliation at the hands of his illustrious team-mates is one of them.

“The one thing you don’t want is to be on the end of a nutmeg,” said Bale. “Especially with rows of cameras. We’re always getting killed out there — I just try not to let it be me.

“Whenever someone gets nutmegged, we’re all jumping and joking around. If you get ’megged or you go 20 passes without touching the ball, you stay in for an extra go. They’ll do anything to keep you in the middle.”

The only other problem for Bale is the number of spiders he encounters. He suffers from arachnophobia.

“Spiders (are) terrible,” he admitted. “I call out to somebody, anybody, to come and deal with a spider, just so I don’t have to.”

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

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