Gareth Bale feels red card was harsh

Gareth Bale feels the red card he picked up in Real Madrid’s 3-3 La Liga draw with Las Palmas was undeserved.

The Welsh winger tripped Jonathan Viera two minutes in the second half at the Bernabeu with the game level at 1-1.

Viera appeared to push Bale, who retaliated, and the Madrid player was shown a yellow card followed by an immediate straight red.

Viera and Kevin-Prince Boateng then scored two quick goals to give Las Palmas a sniff at an unlikely victory.

Cristiano Ronaldo netted a penalty on 86 minutes while the Madrid talisman then headed home in the final minute to salvage a point.

It was not enough however to stop Barcelona from claiming top spot in La Liga after they had earlier beaten Sporting Gijon 6-1 at Camp Nou.

Real now trail their great rivals by one point, although Zinedine Zidane’s side to have a game in hand.

Bale felt he didn’t deserve his red card, though he did apologise to his teammates.

“I don’t believe that it was deserving of a red card,” he told Real Madrid TV.

“I was shown the yellow for the foul, I was then pushed and I just pushed him [Viera] back.

I want to apologise to the team and the fans. I hope to learn from my mistake.”

Bale will miss the game at Eibar next weekend, with the possibility of a longer ban opened up by the referee’s report that he had been shown a straight red for a “violent” push on Viera when play was stopped for the initial foul.

Real Madrid are 1.50 to win away at Eibar on Saturday. The home side are 6.00 with the draw at 4.00.