text: Local hero Gareth Bale back in Cardiff with Real Madrid ahead of Super League final against Sevilla - Telegraph
  Local hero Gareth Bale back in Cardiff with Real Madrid ahead of Super League final against Sevilla
  Welshman desperate to add more silverware but gets warning from team-mate Iker Casillas
  All smiles: Welshman Gareth Bale, back in the country's capital on Monday ahead of the Tuesday's Super Cup final Photo: GETTY IMAGES
  10:51PM BST 11 Aug 2014
  The humble surroundings of Cardiff City's stadium will see Real Madrid parade more than £400 million worth of talent on Tuesday – including local hero Gareth Bale as well as new signings James Rodríguez and Toni Kroos.
  Colombia's World Cup hero Rodríguez arrived at the Bernabéu from Monaco for £60 million while Kroos was signed from Bayern Munich for £20 million. Both will make their debuts for the European champions in Tuesday night's Super Cup final against Europa League winners Sevilla, but all eyes were on Bale, the world's most expensive player at £85 million, when the galacticos swept into town on Monday.
  Bale, as self-effacing as ever, played down his return to the city where it all began on the fields of Whitchurch High School, a dozen years ago, although there was an obvious spring in his step as hundreds of adoring Welsh fans celebrated his latest return.
  Sevilla's manager Unai Emery said at Monday night's press conference that his side could ill afford to concentrate solely on the winger due to the all-round quality of Carlo Ancelotti's squad, while the Welshman insisted the focus should be on his side's bid for another trophy rather than his own high-profile appearance.
  "It's great to be back home but the important thing is to win the game," Bale said. "It's a title we want to
  win and we want to focus on that rather than me playing in my home town." The winger has been the subject of attention about his bulked-up physique, but he denied suggestions that his summer on the training field had been combined with overtime in the gym. Rather, he said, his muscles were simply down to conditioning work with his team-mates.
  "I have done a bit of training on my own, but nothing in the gym or anything like that. It has just been pure conditioning training. It is also a lot easier having had a pre-season rather than being sat at home waiting for a transfer to go through like last year.
  "I feel like I can start at a better tempo and I am looking forward to the new season."
  As good as he looks, Bale left for the team hotel around 8.30pm with a few words of warning from his goalkeeper Iker Casillas about the expectations that come with being a Madrid player. A veteran of 15 years and almost 500 games for the Spanish club, Casillas has warned Bale that his second season will have to be even better than his first if he is to stay on course to become a Real great.
  After a relatively pedestrian start to life in the Spanish capital, Bale capped a spectacular first season in Spain by scoring the winning goal in the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona and the decisive second goal in Real's 4-1 extra time victory over Atlético Madrid in the Champions League final.
  Casillas said: "You need to be able to bear the great pressure that comes with the Real jersey because you are always exposed to criticism. Also, each year they demand more of you. In Real Madrid, every year you have the obligation to go to the fountain with the fans to celebrate what you have won that year. If you have a season without a title it is a failure."