The Real home page sees the hooking shot to increase the score to 2-1 against Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final as the highlight that helped Bale be recognized as a club legend. The profile page of “legend” Bale on Real’s homepage is titled “Bicycle kick helps Real win 13th European Championship”.

“Bale scored more than 100 goals for Real, with the greatest strike that will last forever in history. A spectacular back-hook kick helped Real win La Decimotercera against Liverpool”, the Real homepage added about Super product of the Welsh striker.

In the final at Kyiv 2018, a few minutes after entering the field, Bale hooked the ball into a goal to help Real extinguish the momentum that Liverpool had rekindled after Sadio Mane’s equalizer. The Welsh star then set the score 3-1 with a shot from outside the penalty area and an error by goalkeeper Loris Karius. Bale’s double helped Real win the title for the third consecutive year – something unprecedented in the Champions League era, since the tournament took on this name in 1992.

Bale joined Real for a world record transfer fee of 113 million USD in the summer of 2013. After nine years, he played 258 matches and scored 106 goals, winning 16 titles with the club, including three La Liga and five Champions League. In addition to hooking the ball into Liverpool’s net, Bale has many other memorable moments, such as the header that helped Real lead Atletico 2-1 in the Champions League final in 2014. In the same year, he caused a fever with his acceleration from home field. Running around the touchline to pass midfielder Marc Bartra, before passing goalkeeper Jose Pinto, sealing a 2-1 victory in the Spanish King’s Cup final against Barca.

Bale’s final years at Real were controversial, as he was often injured and had disagreements with coach Zinedine Zidane . He also broke relations with Real fans when he raised a flag with a banner written in the order: “Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order”, after helping Wales win the right to attend Euro 2020.

In the 2020-2021 season, Bale returned to Tottenham on a loan contract, scoring 16 goals and three assists in 34 matches. Last season, Bale only played seven matches and scored one goal, including five in La Liga and two in the Champions League. However, he is still recognized as a member of the Real team that won these two tournaments. Spanish newspaper Marca therefore compared Bale to a ” parasite “, implying that he did not contribute commensurate with the team’s highest season salary of 20.3 million USD.

Besides Bale, Isco and Marcelo – the duo who also left Real in the summer of 2022 for free – were added to the list of club legends. Isco moved to Real from Malaga in 2013, scored 37 goals in 246 matches, won 18 titles. Meanwhile, Marcelo joined Real in January 2007, when he was 18 years old. The Brazilian defender played 546 matches, scored 38 goals for Real, and won 25 titles including, six La Liga, two King’s Cups, five Spanish Super Cups, five Champions Leagues, three European Super Cups and four FIFA Club World Cup.

The list of Real legends also includes Raul, Iker Casillas, Cristiano Ronaldo and Alfredo di Stefano. The British players included in this list are David Beckham, Steve McManaman and Laurie Cunningham.