Featured Image Credit: TNT Sports
Topics: Gareth Bale, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Champions League
Ryan Smart
Topics: Gareth Bale, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Champions League
Gareth Bale made a brutal reference towards Liverpool in his first TNT Sports punditry appearance of the season ahead of the Reds' clash with Real Madrid.
Bale, a five-time winner of the Champions League with Real, will watch their European clash against Liverpool from the TNT punditry booth tonight.
It is one of the first sightings of the Welshman on a football pitch since he retired from professional football after the 2022 World Cup.
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Bale's history with both clubs is vast, with the now 35-year-old coming up against Liverpool many times as a Tottenham player in the Premier League.
And in 2018, he came off the bench to score twice for Real in their Champions League final win over the Reds - with one of those goals being a stunning bicycle kick.
And when asked about his memories of playing against Liverpool before kick-off, he replied with the coldest comment possible.
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"My record at Anfield is not the best," he began. "But I won when it mattered."
Bale never actually played in a winning team at Anfield during his playing career.
Tottenham did win 2-0 at the iconic ground during the 2010/11 season, but Bale was absent due to an ankle injury.
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And Real secured a 3-0 victory in the group stage of the Champions League in 2014, but the Welshman again missed out through a hamstring problem.
A repeat of that result would do more than nicely for Carlo Ancelotti's side, who have won only two of their opening four group stage matches this season and are going through a major injury crisis.
Vinicius Junior, David Alaba, Aurelien Tchouameni and Rodrygo are both absent from the squad at Anfield, while Daniel Carvajal and Eder Militao are long-term absentees with anterior cruciate ligament injuries.
Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham are both available, but Ancelotti has had to select a largely youthful bench and move Federico Valverde into a right-back role, as well as starting youngster Raul Asencio at centre-back.