Zinedine Zidane has insisted that Gareth Bale is a "very important" player for Real Madrid, despite once again overlooking the forward for selection against Paris Saint-Germain.
The Wales international was named on the bench for second leg of the Champions League last-16 tie and only introduced with 14 minutes left to play.
Bale has grown accustomed to sitting out big matches of late, having also been among the subs for the first leg last month, and Zidane has stuck by his decision to go with Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio at the Parc des Princes.
"The team is the important thing," he told reporters at his post-match presser. "Bale didn't play in the first leg nor today, but that doesn't have anything to do with it
"He's very important and will be right to the end. It was important to put [Vazquez and Asensio] in to have two banks of four defending their wide players.
"We did that really well. Lucas is doing really well at the moment, and Marco too. We all are, but them in particular. I can't explain anything more to you. I have to choose every three days and today the plan was to go with those players. They did well."
Madrid earned a 2-1 win on the night in Paris to seal through 5-2 on aggregate, keeping alive their hopes for a third successive triumph in the competition.
Daniel Lewis
