Gareth Bale has stopped shooting so much since crowd started booing

The Welshman has been pilloried by fans several times this season for not passing to his team-mates enough, with the jeering particularly bad during January's matches against Espanyol and Real Sociedad.

And since that match against La Real on January 31 he has severely cut his number of speculative efforts on goal, according to stats published by the Daily Mail.

Before January 31, Bale took a shot every 22.9 minutes - that's 155 shots in 3,542 minutes on the pitch.

But since that day five weeks ago, Bale has taken just 12 shots in five matches - an attempt on goal every 37.5 minutes.

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Bale's perceived selfishness reached its height against Real Sociedad when he cut ahead of the waiting James Rodriguez to meet a ball from Karim Benzema - but skewed his shot wide.

While the numbers do suggest he has been less selfish since that day, they also suggest that he has been significantly less effective: Bale scored three goals and created two assists in his five matches for Real Madrid in January, but hasn't managed either in his five Liga and one Champions League match since then.