Time for Bale to come back in from cold

into the air to convert Marcelo’s left-wing cross with extraordinary athleticism and technique.

What an impact – and what a statement.

It was not the quickest goal by a substitute in a Champions League final – Lars Ricken had been on the pitch only 16 seconds when he sealed the 1997 title for Borussia Dortmund.

But it was a goal worthy of winning any game, even if it was rivalled for a talking point by the catastrophic blunders by Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius, who gifted Karim Benzema the first goal and Bale his second – Real’s third.

Bale deserves plenty of credit, though, for trying a powerful shot from distance knowing that the unfortunate Karius’s mind had been shot to pieces by his first mistake.

He has become, by a distance, British football’s most successful export – his trophy tally at the Bernabeu now reads four Champions Leagues, two World Club Cups, two UEFA Super Cups, La Liga and a Copa del Rey.

He has equalled Phil Neal’s record for the British player with the most European Cup wins and has surely achieved all he could possibly achieve at Real Madrid.

Now is the time to return home where he will be appreciated far more and where he can add some domestic honours to his trophy cabinet.

With his 29th birthday approaching in July, Bale knows he needs to be playing

HITTING THE BIG TIME: GREAT STRIKES TO RIVAL GARETH’S

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