Gareth Bale hopeful over calf injury

Gareth Bale has played down suggestions that he suffered a potentially long-term injury in Real Madrid's Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.

The Welshman did not complete the first half of his team's 4-0 victory after pulling up with a suspected calf problem minutes before the hosts took the lead.

A torn calf would keep the attacker out of action for at least a month, but Bale is confident that the injury is "nothing too serious".

"Great win at home to kick off our ‪#UCL campaign, gutted to go off but hopefully nothing too serious," Bale tweeted.

Real Madrid boss Rafael Benitez said that "injuries are always bad news" when questioned on Bale's state after the match.