Gareth Bale breaks David Beckham’s record for most La Liga appearances by a British player

Gareth Bale broke David Beckham’s La Liga record by starting against Getafe on Saturday night.

The Wales international now holds the record for the most appearances in a La Liga game by a British player.

Former Manchester United and La Galaxy star Beckham played 116 times for Real in the league, scoring 13 times and providing 33 assists from midfield.Bale’s start against Getafe took his La Liga tally to 117 games, making him the undisputed British king of Spain.

The forward has also a significantly better return in the same matches as Beckham, with 61 goals and 39 assists.
Real are miles off the pace in La Liga, with Barcelona a massive 15 points ahead of their bitter rivals.

Atletico Madrid occupy second place and Real need to make up a ten point gap if they want to finish above their fellow Madrid team.

Not that the massive gap has caused Zinedine Zidane to give up on the title, he said: ‘You think that the league is over for us but football is like that and every league match is important.

‘The title will go down to the wire and we’ll fight until the end. It’s difficult but not impossible. I’m an optimist until the end.’