Ryan Giggs: 'Gareth Bale has to start Champions League final'

Wales manager Ryan Giggs has suggested that Real Madrid counterpart Zinedine Zidane would be taking a big gamble if he leaves Gareth Bale out of his starting lineup for this weekend's Champions League final.

The 28-year-old forward has started just three times for Los Blancos so far in this season's competition, as Zidane has instead gone with Isco, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema as his most advanced players.

Giggs believes that Bale is a game-changing talent, though, as he proved in the 2014 final when scoring a key goal against Atletico Madrid - the first of three European Cup triumphs in four years for Los Blancos.

"Every time he is involved, he makes a difference. He can do special things and has scored a lot of goals," Giggs told Sky Sports News ahead of Madrid's meeting with Liverpool on Saturday.

"He is someone who is very hard to defend against as he can score all types of goals. Of course Real have a lot of good players but, from my point of view, Bale would always be in my starting team.

"It would be amazing if Real Madrid do it. It is great for Gareth, but also for Wales to have somebody representing the country, and somebody who has won so much."

Giggs will be without Bale, as well as Ben Woodburn and Danny Ward, for Wales's friendly against Mexico next week due to their Champions League commitments.