Gareth Bale breaks David Beckham's Real Madrid appearance record
Thursday 30 November 2017 13:23, UK
Gareth Bale has surpassed David Beckham's record for most Real Madrid appearances by a British player.
Bale turned out for Real Madrid for the 160th time since joining from Tottenham in 2013 in the 2-2 draw with Fuenlabrada on Tuesday night.
Live La Liga Football
The Welshman overtakes Beckham, who moved to Real from Manchester United in 2003, and played at the Bernabeu until 2007, winning one La Liga title and scoring 20 goals.
The 28-year-old, who moved for a then-world-record fee from Spurs, has scored 70 times for Real, and has one La Liga and three Champions League medals under his belt.
Steve McManaman is the next British player on the list, registering 158 appearances, including Champions League final wins in 2000 and 2002.
Real won the Copa del Rey tie on Wednesday 4-2 on aggregate despite the disappointing draw to the third tier side, and travel to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday at 7.45pm, live on Sky Sports Football, in the hope of narrowing the eight-point gap between them and La Liga leaders Barcelona.
