Gareth Bale walked out on his Real Madrid teammates 15 minutes before the final whistle of their 4-3 Copa del Rey defeat by Real Sociedad.

Marca says the scoreline was 1-4 in favour of La Real heading into the final 15 minutes, yet Bale opted to depart early without seeing whether his teammates could mount a heroic comeback, which they almost did.

Fans around the ground believed that Real Madrid could do it and the atmosphere after the hosts scored a second goal suggested as much.

Bale, though, has made a habit of leaving Los Blancos matches early when he isn't involved, and it has hardly helped repair his relationship with fans.

He has now spent four successive matches outside of the matchday squad.