Emilio Butragueño has lavished praise on Gareth Bale after this summer’s World record signing scored his first hat-trick in Real Madrid colours on Saturday evening as Los Blancos beat Rayo Vallecano 4-0 in La Liga.
Bale delighted the Santiago Bernabéu crowd with his stellar performance, also contributing an assist for Karim Benzema’s goal, prompting Madrid’s sporting director Butragueño to tell reporters that he believes there is still much more to come from the Welshman in the future.
Los Blancos legend Butragueño said: “”He [Bale] has to still get to know his peers and their movements around him, but I have high hopes for him, for he will surely improve more.
“His three goals were very important for his morale and confidence, while he demonstrated great technique to assist Benzema for our second goal,” added the Spaniard.
Madrid were without Cristiano Ronaldo for the second game running, as the Portuguese again missed out with a thigh problem, and Butragueño was pleased that other players stepped up to fill the void in a strong team performance.
He said: “It is great to know we have other fantastic players but I hope Cristiano can come back as soon as possible because he’s the best.”
