Tottenham Hotspur manager, Jose Mourinho, has said that he substituted winger, Gareth Bale, during his side’s Europa League last-32 first leg 4-1 win over Wolfsberger on Thursday night to save him for the West Ham clash on Sunday.
Bale was withdrawn just after the hour-mark during Tottenham’s clash with Wolfsberger at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and Mourinho is now saying that he made the substitution with a view to Sunday’s London derby against West Ham.
The Welshman, who has been an unused substitute in two of Spurs’ last three league matches, produced an encouraging performance and scored a goal against Wolfsberger.
Son Heung-min, Lucas Moura and Carlos Vinicius also scored to give Mourinho’s men a first-leg advantage over the Austrian outfit ahead of the second leg next week.
“One of the reasons why he left the pitch by minute 64 was to try to have him [Gareth Bale] available for the next match,” Mourinho said at a post-match press conference.
“By taking him off at that minute, we managed to save him a few miles in his legs. I know the match is Sunday at 12 o’clock, but I believe he has a chance to play the match.
“For him, it was important to play and not to play the 90 minutes.”
Europa League: I substituted Bale to save him for West Ham clash – Mourinho
