Daily Star

Giggs backs Gareth for another final success

- By ALEX BYWATER

GARETH BALE will brush off a season of woe to seal a fourth Champions League title with Real Madrid.

That’s the verdict of two-time European champion and Bale’s Wales boss, Ryan Giggs.

Bale’s Madrid are targeting a third straight crown when they face Liverpool in Kiev on Saturday night with the Spanish giants favourites. Boss Zinedine Zidane has left Bale, 28, out for much of this season but he is back in the side and back in form at just the right time with three goals in his last two games and five from his last four starts.

And Giggs believes the Welsh wizard will prove to be a key man again against the Kop outfit. Giggs said: “Every time Gareth plays he makes an impact and it just shows the profession­al he is that he’s not sulking. “He’s one of the best players in the world. Every time he comes on to that pitch he makes a difference.

“He will be thinking if he starts in the final then great. If he doesn’t then I’m ready to score that winner or to make a difference.”

Bale is used to making a difference in the final. He scored in Real’s 2014 triumph against Atletico Madrid and again in the penalty shootout victory in 2016 against the same opposition.

But he had to settle for a late substitute appearance on home soil in Cardiff last season for the win over Juventus.

Should Bale collect a fourth winners’ medal, he will draw level with former Liverpool and England full-back Phil Neal as the most decorated Brit in the competitio­n.

Giggs added: “For a Welsh player to win four Champions Leagues would be magnificen­t. I know a lot of players involved in the final. I know Cristiano

 ??  ?? FOOTBALL BASEBALL BASKETBALL GOLF ICE HOCKEY MOTOR SPORT TENNIS TODAY’S DIARY CRICKET REAL GOOD NICK: Gareth Bale warms up to face Liverpool against Villarreal last weekend MAD FOR IT: Bale scores against Atletico Madrid in the 2014 final
FOOTBALL BASEBALL BASKETBALL GOLF ICE HOCKEY MOTOR SPORT TENNIS TODAY’S DIARY CRICKET REAL GOOD NICK: Gareth Bale warms up to face Liverpool against Villarreal last weekend MAD FOR IT: Bale scores against Atletico Madrid in the 2014 final

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