It seems an appropriate moment, then, to ask Bale what he makes of the situation. Sitting in one of the lavish presidential suites at the Bernabeu, Bale could scarcely be further away from the Chigwell training ground where he first turned up at Tottenham, or the bumpy Cardiff pitches where he played as a kid. The 4-0 defeat to Barcelona, which took place after our interview, may have been a crushing blow to Real’s season. But generally Bale is enjoying his football, enjoying life in Spain. And with another week of European football upon us, he allows his thoughts to drift homewards, to the travails of the country he left.