Are Bale's complaints justified?

"I need to be playing week in, week out, and that's not happened this season," Bale explained following the game.

"I had an injury five, six weeks into the season but I've been fit ever since.

"I have to sit down with my agent in the summer and discuss it."

Whilst it was a surprise to hear Bale say so, the content of his message was by no means a shock. A player of Bale's quality has every reason to feel he is deserving of a place in the team, whilst his desire to play every week is refreshing in an age when many players are content to play as little as possible whilst continuing to rake in the money.

That aside, are Bale's comments about his lack of playing time justified? The 28-year-old ended the season having made 39 appearances in all competitions, racking up 2,363 minutes of action.

Bale featured most in La Liga, starting 20 of the 26 games he featured in and only sitting on the bench for all 90 minutes of a La Liga game once this season, with that game coming way back in September when 'Los Blancos' edged out Alaves.

The main reasoning for Bale's frustration is thought to be his lack of action in the latter stages of the Champions League.

The Welshman started Madrid's first two games of their European campaign, before missing the next four through injury. From there on in, Bale started just one of his side's seven knockout games, being hooked at half-time in the second leg of the quarter-final against Juventus.

He was given just 36 minutes to impress across two games in the last 16, 45 in the quarters, 18 in the semis and 30 in the final, though he certainly made the minutes count in Kiev.

Perhaps the best indication of Bale's importance to Madrid can be seen by comparing his minutes played (2,363) to rivals for his postition Lucas Vazquez (2,815), Marco Asensio (2,863) and Isco (2,960), something that clearly shows his drop down the pecking order at the Bernabeu.