Gareth Bale says Real Madrid fans jeering him has hurt his confidence

Gareth Bale says he still cannot understand why Real Madrid fans continue to boo him, admitting it has damaged his confidence.

The Wales international has been the subject of whistles and boos from some Real Madrid supporters on several occasions since joining from Tottenham in 2013.

In November, Bale celebrated Wales' qualification for Euro 2020 by posing in front of a banner which read 'Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that Order', leading to further jeers from Real Madrid fans on his return to the club.

"We get a lot of pressure every game. If you don't play well, there's scrutiny," Bale told US golf podcast The Erik Anders Lang Show.

"I've had 80,000 people in a stadium whistle at me because I haven't played well. I've had it a few times! It's not nice and it doesn't do your confidence any good either."

When asked why they do it, Bale responded: "This is the biggest question and I just don't get it.

"You would expect that if you're not having a good time on the pitch, your fans would get behind you and try to help you do better because it'll make them happy.

"But it seems that they do the opposite. They whistle you, which consequentially makes you feel worse, you lose your confidence, you play worse and then that makes them even more upset."

Bale added: "In football, you might play amazing, not score for five games, and then everyone says you're having a terrible time.

"You think to yourself that you're playing well, you just haven't scored or assisted. But people just like goals, assists and 'wow' things. Sometimes that doesn't always happen."

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Bale says he is also still confused that his love for playing golf has caused such a stir in Spain.

"A lot of people have problems with me playing golf," he said.

"I don't know what their reason is because I've spoken to doctors and everybody's fine with it. The media has this perception that it's not good for me, you should be resting, it can cause you injuries.

"Steph Curry (NBA basketball player) plays maybe on the morning of a game. If I play two days before a game, it's like 'what's he doing?'"

"It's nice to be on the course and just get away from everything," he added. "I play with a few friends or sometimes play on my own, put some music on, play 18 holes and just relax and get away from everything.

"I then don't have to think about football, especially if it's not going well."

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