Bale met the Bernabéu
Despite the fact that he had already played with Tottenham in a Champions League match in 2011, Gareth Bale was presented on September 2, 2013 as a new Real Madrid player. The Welshman began to know what would be the stadium of the club in which he would make a career.
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PHILIP SEVILLANO
DAILY AS
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Debut with goal in Villarreal
Bale could not have started his career as a Real Madrid player in a better way: in his first game with the white jersey he scored at Villarreal.
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ALBERTO IRANZO
DAILY AS
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First exhibition at the Bernabéu
Valladolid, on November 30, 2013, was the first team to receive its first great exhibition. The Welshman scored his first hat-trick and dismantled the Pucelano team. He had already shown signs of his quality in previous games (he scored a brace against Sevilla with a goal almost without an angle), but against the blanquivioletas he began to clear up doubts about his talent.
Photo:
SUSAN VERA
REUTERS
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Perfect storm in Gelsenkirchen
Madrid suffered whenever they traveled to Germany, but in February 2014, the BBC devastated Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen: the Whites thrashed 1-6, with two goals from each member of the Whites’ attacking trident.
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JESUS AGUILERA
DAILY AS
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The race of all time
One of his best displays of power, technique, skill and quality. In the Cup final against Barcelona, and when everything pointed to the extra time dispute, Bale received the ball from Di María, and scored a sprint race with Bartra. His career, unstoppable, prevented the Barça defender from being able to prevent an extraordinary goal.
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Denis Doyle
Getty Images
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The tenth in his head
Once Sergio Ramos forced extra time, Bale began to give part of the Décima by heading in a Di María shot that was rejected by Courtois in the first instance: the ball made a parabola effect, and he was free for his shot. In the remaining ten minutes of the match, the Whites would still score another two goals. The Champions returned to the Bernabéu.
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KAI PFAFFENBACH
REUTERS
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Super Cup against Sevilla
After winning the Champions League in Lisbon, Madrid would start another winning cycle both in the domestic championships and in Europe. Thus, three months after the victory in the continental competition, the Whites would be proclaimed champions of the European Super Cup. Bale would not score, but he would serve a golden ball for Cristiano to open the scoring.
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AGUILERA
AS diary
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lesions appear
After a resolved first season with two winning two titles (Cup and Champions), Bale begins to suffer muscle injuries that prevent him from shining like in his first campaign in white. Still, he manages to score 15 goals…
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PEPE ANDRES
DAILY AS
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Shine in the Club World Cup
In December 2014, Madrid was proclaimed champion of the Club World Cup after defeating the Mexican Cruz Azul (4-0) and the Argentine San Lorenzo (2-0). In both games he scores a goal and shines.
Photo:
YOUSSEF BOUDLAL
REUTERS
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Without defending the Champions by a hair…
If in 2014 a shot of his began to give Madrid the Champions League, a year later, the whites would be eliminated by Juventus: Bale had the clearest chance to force extra time, but his shot (header) went over Buffon’s goal…
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JAVIER GANDUL
DAILY AS
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With Benítez, like a shot
After the departure of Ancelotti and the arrival of Benítez, Bale starts the 2015-16 campaign like a shot. Some statements from his agent saying that he had to play behind the striker caused a great controversy, but Gareth complied: he scored four goals against Rayo (he was left with nine players) in a portentous action…
Photo:
LLUIS GENE
AFP
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Zidane arrives
After a draw against Valencia at the Mestalla, Rafa Benítez is dismissed as Madrid coach and Zidane arrives as the new coach. In the French coach’s first game, the Welshman scores a hat-trick against Deportivo de La Coruña…
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JAVIER GANDUL
DAILY AS
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lucky shot
In the semifinals of the Champions League, a shot of his that touches Fernando becomes the only goal of the match. After failing to hit the previous season, Bale put Madrid back in the Champions League final. He will face Atlético again, but this time in Milan.
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Paul Hanna
REUTERS
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Converts an injured penalty
In Milan, in the Champions League final, and also against Atlético, he became the protagonist: he combed the ball that Ramos converted into Madrid’s goal and converted his penalty into the shootout: the Welshman fired that fateful shot while injured and lame to fire his shot.
Photo:
Stefano Rellandini
REUTERS
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The beginning of the Bale-Zidane divorce
The 2016-17 campaign is historic for Madrid: they win the League and the Champions League, but Bale does not appear much in the photos: an ankle injury plus other muscular ones separate him from the day-to-day life of the first team. But there is one fact that determines the start of the Bale-Zidane divorce: the player rushes to face Bayern in Munich and ends up injured. Days later, the player claims to feel recovered before Barcelona’s visit to the Bernabéu, but he has to retire injured. Madrid will lose that game in the last play of the match. Zizou feels cheated by the Welshman. And he won’t forgive him…
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Power Sport Images
Getty Images
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He sees the Champions League in his native Cardiff on the bench
Madrid qualifies to play (and defend the title) the Champions League final in Cardiff, Bale’s hometown. But Zidane decides that the Welshman is not a starter. He will take him out with just over ten minutes left in the match. His anger is obvious and noticeable.
Photo:
Darren Staples
REUTERS
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Much of the season is lost
An injury at the end of September 2017 causes him to miss much of the season. He will not play again until December, in the Club World Cup, but his clash with Zidane is becoming more and more noticeable.
Photo:
JAVIER GANDUL
DAILY AS
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Double with Chilean in kyiv
As was the case in the previous final in Cardiff, in kyiv, venue for the Champions League final, Bale started the final from the bench. But with a goal tied on the scoreboard, Zidane decides to let him enter the field. The Welshman’s response is brutal: he scores a sensational Chilean goal and another with a left-footed shot from 25-30 meters. At the time of the trophy delivery, the Welshman looks for the coach’s position to be at the opposite end…
Photo:
David Ramos
Getty Images
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The end of the BBC
After the end of the match in kyiv, and in full celebration of the title, both Cristiano and Bale announce that they are considering leaving. The first ends his cycle in Madrid, while the Welshman, faced with Zidane, also meditates his departure. It will be the end of the BBC, a trident that scored 442 goals and won four Champions Leagues in five years… In addition, Zidane also left arguing that he could not inspire more desire in the players…
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JESUS ALVAREZ ORIHUELA
DAILY AS
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Great match against Roma
With the arrival of Lopetegui on the bench, Bale resurfaces again. He again considers himself the leader in Madrid, achieving goals and formidable performances like against Roma, but little by little he deflates again. The dismissal of the coach and the arrival of Solari do not help much in his resurgence either…
Photo:
JAVIER GANDUL
DAILY AS
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Bad faces between Zidane and Bale
But in March 2019, and after a black week in which Madrid was eliminated from the Champions League and the Cup and lost at home to Barcelona, Zidane once again assumed command of the white squad. But an ugly gesture after losing in Vallecas against Rayo (he decided to go by car to the airport and go with his team), makes the coach not call him in the last league games, and even in preseason say: “Bale? It is better that you leave as soon as possible. Today better than tomorrow”…
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Soccrates Images
Getty Images
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Starter in the first game
After these statements, it is surprising that Zidane places him as a starter in the first game of the 2019-20 campaign. The Welshman shines and gives Benzema the first goal of the campaign. He surprises his game, his physique… It seems that Bale has accepted the message that he has to give more…
Photo:
JAVIER GANDUL
DAILY AS
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“Wales. Golf. Madrid”
In November 2019, after Wales qualified for Euro 2020, the Welsh team celebrates the pass with a flag bearing the motto ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid ‘, alluding to some statements by Mijatovic in which he stated that the Cardiff’s preferences were those. That gesture did not like part of the fans, neither the board nor some of his teammates…
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DAILY AS
DAILY AS
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His last white goal
His last goal as a madridista was scored against Unionistas in the Cup in 2020. It would be one of his last chances to see him on the pitch.
Photo:
JAVIER GANDUL
DAILY AS
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Bale in the stands of Valdebebas
From March 2020 until the end of the season he only made appearances in two games, Eibar and Mallorca (right on the return of the competition due to the pandemic). Zidane stopped counting on his services. The Welshman was going to the Bernabéu, but he left ten minutes before the end of the match, something established by Real Madrid’s internal regulations. And as James did, he asked Zidane not to be summoned. And the technician complied. He saw how his teammates proclaimed themselves League champions while he was in the stands…
Photo:
JESUS ALVAREZ ORIHUELA
DAILY AS
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His last time in white
On April 9, Gareth Bale entered the field of play substituting Karim Benzema in the match between Real Madrid and Getafe at the Santiago Bernabéu.
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Soccrates Images
Getty Images
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His fifth European Cup
Unlike the first 4, in his last season as a madridista, Bale hardly participated in the Champions League, playing only 2 games, but it was enough to increase his prestigious record.
Photo:
Jonathan Moscrop
Getty Images
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