Bale following in Robben's footsteps

On Tuesday, Wales national team doctors confirmed Bale will be sidelined for up to a month with a calf injury.

His situation cannot be compared to the case of Jonathan Woodgate, one of the the biggest injury fiascos in Real's history, but it is very similar to that of Robben in his time at the Bernabeu.

Bayern Munich's star winger never managed to hold down a regular starting spot in his two years with 'Los Blancos'. It was almost as if he was made of glass and he missed more than 30 matches due to muscular problems, a nightmare that ended up in him joining German giants Bayern Munich.

It was there that Robben underwent miraculous treatment that drastically reduced his injury problems. He went on to win one Champions League, reach another final and represent the Netherlands in a World Cup final. The winger rediscovered his mojo.

Now, Bale is heading down a remarkably similar route as Robben. Constantly sidelined with muscle problems, the statistics for his last two years at Real are not pretty reading.

The Wales international has failed to string together more than two consecutive months without picking up an injury, something that is ruining his reputation among the Madrid faithfuls.

Just as he was starting to get back to his best, scoring a superb goal in the Champions League clash against Borussia Dortmund and becoming a regular in Zinedine Zidane’s starting XI, Bale has once again suffered an injury.

To make matters worse, Wales are yet to qualify for next summer's World Cup in Russia, something they will now have to do without their star man.

Real Madrid and Zidane will now be seriously questioning whether to keep hold of the injury-prone Bale, who is turning out to be more of a liability than asset.