Jose Mourinho believes anyone wondering why it took Gareth Bale so long to hit top form for Tottenham would be better off asking Real Madrid.
Bale had a miserable start to his Tottenham return after coming back to the club on a season-long loan deal in September.
He struggled with his form and fitness, quickly falling out of favour with Mourinho.
Bale has been revitalised of late though, impressing in two Europa League games against Wolfsberger as well as Premier League clashes against West Ham and Burnley.
Mourinho recently said Bale was the happiest, fittest and most confident he has ever been at Tottenham.
The Spurs boss confirmed Bale had another good reaction to his 70-minute outing in the 4-0 win over Burnley on Sunday.
It means the Wales international is in contention to play at least some part when Spurs take on Fulham at Craven Cottage on Thursday.
"For the past two years, he had what he had in Madrid," said Mourinho. "Ask them [why it took Bale so long to find form].
"Maybe if they answer you, you can understand better why he took a while.
"Maybe to be patient was the main reason for him to reach the level he showed in the last couple of weeks."
Asked if Bale would be involved in the Fulham game, he added: "I believe so. Starting or on the bench I don't know, we have to decide that.
"He is such an experienced guy so of course his opinion is very important. But he has had a good reaction [after the Burnley game], a good recovering session and he will be involved.
"I repeat: [it could be] bench or starting, but he will be there."
Midfielder Giovani Lo Celso will not be rushed back despite returning to training.
"He is training with the team but it was a big injury," added Mourinho.
"We are not going to risk [him] yet. In fact, we don't want to risk [him at all], we want to bring him to the team and competition when there is no risk. One week, two more weeks.
"Apart from that, everyone OK. One more training session after this but everyone OK."
BALE'S SWIFT IMPROVEMENT
Bale has registered four goals and three assists in his last four games for Tottenham.
In his first 16 matches since returning, he only recorded four goals and did not register a single assist.
The 31-year-old's minutes per goal involvement have impressively plummeted from 200.8 in his first 16 matches to one every 28.7 in this most recent four-match span.
Bale is having more of an active role in other areas too. His chances created per 90 minutes are up to 3.1 from just 1.1, while his shot conversion rate is 44.4 per cent, up from 10.5.
It is only a small sample size and two of the matches were against weaker opposition in Wolfsberger, but the signs are encouraging.
The amount of shots he is taking is similar (4 per game compared to 4.3 before), but notably more of Spurs' attacks are coming through Bale.
He has accounted for 22 per cent of Spurs' shots in the last four matches, where before he was responsible for just nine per cent of their attempts in the time he was on the pitch.
HOW DO HIS STATS COMPARE TO REAL MADRID?
The recent burst from Bale means his statistics since returning to Spurs compare favourably to his successful Madrid tenure in a number of categories.
Again, it is worth noting his Spurs figures are from a comparatively small sample size making them more prone to fluctuations – 20 matches compared to 251 in the Spanish capital.
Bale has 11 goal involvements for Spurs (eight goals and three assists) in 1,004 minutes on the pitch, giving him an average of 91 minutes per contribution.
At Madrid, he averaged one every 111 minutes.
Bale also compares favourably when looking solely at minutes per goal (171 at Madrid v 126 at Spurs).
He did, however, win 65 per cent of the games he played in at Madrid, compared to 60 per cent since returning to Spurs, a sign of the difficult season experienced by the London club.
Lino: Final-day win at Sociedad a big boost for Atletico
Samuel Lino believes Atletico Madrid's final-day victory over Real Sociedad will provide them with a timely boost heading into next season.
Diego Simeone's side ran out 2-0 winners at Reale Arena in their final match of the 2023-24 campaign. Lino opened the scoring after just nine minutes, while Reinildo sealed the points in second-half stoppage time.
However, despite a fourth-place finish in LaLiga, it brought the curtain down on a third successive trophyless season for Atleti, who will finish at least 18 points adrift of champions Real Madrid.
Los Rojiblancos fell to Borussia Dortmund following a 5-4 aggregate defeat in the Champions League quarter-finals, while they were soundly beaten by Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
But Lino, who had his fourth direct goal involvement in three appearances (one goal, three assists), thinks a hard-earned win against their sixth-place opponents - a fourth success in five games - will give him and his team-mates positive momentum to build on next season.
"It was an important victory to finish the season well," he told Movistar Plus. "We were good, focused, played a good game and that's what we wanted.
"Overall, we were not within the club's objectives, but we finished well, and now we have to switch off. A win away from home could help us to come back strong next season."
Real Sociedad 0-2 Atletico Madrid: Simeone's men end LaLiga campaign with three points
Atletico Madrid ended their LaLiga campaign with a 2-0 win at Real Sociedad on Saturday thanks to a first-half strike by Brazilian winger Samuel Lino and a stoppage-time Reinildo tap-in.
Atletico, who had already secured fourth place and a spot in next season's Champions League, finished the season on 76 points, 11 ahead of Athletic Bilbao in fifth.
Meanwhile, sixth-placed La Real have qualified for the Europa League.
Runaway champions Real Madrid are top of the standings on 94 points, 12 points ahead of second-placed Barcelona and 13 clear of Girona in third.
Atletico took the lead in the ninth minute after Marcos Llorente burst up the right wing and delivered a low cross to the far post for Lino, who netted with a tidy finish past Alex Remiro.
Remiro and Atletico's keeper Jan Oblak made several saves before Atletico were reduced to 10 men after Saul Niguez was shown a second yellow card in the 92nd minute.
In the last move of the match, Atletico secured the three points on a counter-attack led by Alvaro Morata, who delivered a perfectly placed cross for substitute Reinildo to tap into the empty net.
Data debrief
Diego Simeone's men ended the campaign with four wins in their last five league outings, and their performance was very much worth the three points against La Real.
Atletico accumulated 2.31 xG (expected goals) to the hosts' 0.59, scoring their 10th and 11th goals in their last six matches to end the season on a high.
Ten Hag urges patience on Mainoo after FA Cup final strike
Erik ten Hag wants people to be patient with Kobbie Mainoo, despite the Manchester United youngster quickly developing into a star.
Mainoo's meteoric rise reached its highest peak yet as he netted in Saturday's FA Cup final against Manchester City, with his fine finish and Alejandro Garnacho's goal nine minutes prior ensuring United claimed a 2-1 victory over their rivals to lift the trophy.
Mainoo, aged just 19 years and 36 days, was the first English teenager to find the back of the net in an FA Cup final since 1981, while he is also the youngest to do so since John Sissons for West Ham in 1964.
Mainoo's cup final goal came in the same week he was named in Gareth Southgate's 33-man provisional squad for Euro 2024, and he looks a surefire bet to be on the plane to Germany next month.
Yet, Ten Hag believes people mustn't expect too much, too soon from the midfielder.
"I think we have to keep it calm," Ten Hag told the BBC. "You are very good here in England to push players and managers very high, and then you hammer them after one or two bad performances. I think we need to keep it very calm.
"He was [magnificent]. It was really so enjoyable to watch Kobbie at his age.
"But he's also an example [of problems]. We wanted to play him in the second game [of the season], but then he got a bad injury. It was a long time until he came back."
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