Real Madrid`s Gareth Bale has thigh muscle injury

Madrid: Real Madrid`s Wales winger and record signing Gareth Bale has a muscle strain in his left thigh, the La Liga club said on Wednesday.

Real did not say how long Bale, who became the world`s most expensive player when he joined from Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of 100 million euros ($135 million) in the close season, will be sidelined for. He is likely to miss Saturday`s La Liga game at Levante and may not be able to join up with Wales for their World Cup qualifiers at home to Macedonia on Oct. 11 and away to Belgium four days later. Bale played the second half of Real`s 1-0 league defeat at home to Atletico Madrid last weekend but was unable to train on Tuesday and was left out of the squad for the Champions League Group B match at home to FC Copenhagen later on Wednesday. He had been due to play his first game at the Bernabeu against Getafe the previous weekend but was withdrawn from the starting lineup after tweaking his thigh muscle in the warmup. Real won their opening Champions League match 6-1 at Turkish side Galatasaray but have faltered in La Liga and Saturday`s defeat left them five points behind champions Barcelona and Atletico, who both have a perfect 21 points from seven games. Reuters