Zinedine Zidane puts date on Gareth Bale's return

The Real Madrid manager says he expects the Welsh winger to be fully ready for the second leg of Madrid's second round tie with Napoli on March 7.

Bale has been out with an ankle injury since November and was initially expected to be out for three months. He limped out of a group stage Champions League match against Sporting Lisbon, and has since undergone a surgery in London. Prior to his injury, Bale was in fine form and scored seven goals in his last 16 matches.

Bale is back in training but is yet to train with the rest of the squad, as he bids to return to full fitness.

I think it's March 7 when we play Napoli. Hopefully, it would be great news if he could be back. 

Zidane said in his press conference via FourFourTwo ahead of Real Madrid's trip to bottom side Osasuna this weekend.

He's training but he's yet to train with his team-mates. He's training well and he's looking forward to returning.

He added.

Madrid are top of the La Liga standings despite having two games in hand. After the match against Osasuna on Saturday, the Los Blancos will welcome Napoli in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 first leg on Wednesday.