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After scoring what could be the most-important goal of his Real Madrid career so far, Gareth Bale said that it felt like he was “living a dream” after helping Real Madrid claim their 10th European Cup. The goal was a sort of vindication for Bale, who had previously missed three gilt-edged chances before he eventually scored the second goal in the 4-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in the final of the UEFA Champions League held in Lisbon on Saturday.
All seemed lost for Real Madrid going into stoppage time, as they were 1-0 and staring at another setback in their quest to claim La Décima. But Sergio Ramos scored in stoppage time to take the match into extra-time. And with 10 minutes to go in the game, Bale scored a header and Real added two more to seal a comfortable victory over their City rivals.
After the game, Bale said “I’ve learned from past experience to keep going, forget about the chances you’ve missed and keep persevering. Thankfully I got the decisive goal. It was great to see it go in. I came here to play in big competitions and win trophies. This is what every footballer dreams of and it doesn’t get any bigger in club football. Lifting that trophy is a feeling you can’t describe and it will be a memory I will never forget.”
After scoring in the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona, this was his second cup-final goal in his first season with the club and Bale said that he is hungry for more. “We want to win more now. When that ball came over for my goal, I said to myself: ‘Do not miss, do not miss’. It was great to see it go in and the celebrations from the crowd showed how much it meant to them.”
“It feels like we are living a dream. When we play our own football we win matches and it was just about attacking and keep doing what we do best. We believe in that and we believed if we kept doing it we would win.”
After claiming his third European Cup to move level to Liverpool’s Bob Paisley, Carlo Ancelotti described the feeling as “Incredible” and claimed that “It was our aim from the start of the season,”
The Italian was full of praise for the Welshman and also added: “It was difficult but I think we deserved it in the end. Gareth was very important. He had chances earlier in the match and his shooting was not good but, at the right moment, he was ready to score. Not just tonight, but all season, he has been very good and I’m sure he will be even better next season.”
