It was five years ago when the field itself could not contain Gareth Bale.
The scene was Real Madrid vs. Barcelona in the Cope del Rey final, and the two teams were locked at 1-1 in the 85th minute. It was then that Bale collected a ball on the left wing, pushed it past Barcelona’s Bartra, and then he himself got pushed out of bounds.
For most players, that would be it. They would throw their hands up and wait for the ref to blow his whistle.
Bale didn’t do that, however. Bale kept running. The ball was still in play, and it didn’t matter that he was a yard and a half out of bounds, he knew he had the pace to still get there. He did, took a somewhat clumsy touch, recovered, then finished to give Real Madrid the lead and the win.
The chart of the goal is perfect:
A perfect, bizarre run that gave Real Madrid one of its most famous victories.
Here is the goal in all its glory:
What a run. What a finish. Real Madrid fans who don’t think Bale has been important for them are doofuses. Man scored that goal to win a cup final. There are like two or three people alive with the ability to score that goal.
