‘Sweet’ defeat of Barcelona gives Real Madrid momentum Gareth Bale:

Gareth Bale could not believe that he was denied the winning goal in the clásico but insisted Real Madrid were so superior in the final stages of the game that he was convinced they would get more chances to take what he called “sweet” revenge on Barcelona – even though there were only 10 minutes remaining.

The goal that secured Madrid a 2-1 win at the Camp Nou eventually came from Cristiano Ronaldo and Bale suggested this win was a warning as the season enters the final, decisive weeks.


The Welshman said that while winning the league remains a difficult task, Madrid will fight for the title to the end and claimed victory here puts them “in a strong position mentally” as they prepare for the Champions League quarter-finals. “We can beat anyone on our day,” he said after Real had become the first team to beat Barcelona in 40 games, ending a run that goes back six months.

There were worrying signs for Barcelona, while Madrid appear to be reaching full fitness at last. They also appear to be finding a footballing identity. That, at least, was the way Bale saw it.

Barcelona took the lead through Gerard Piqué but Karim Benzema equalised before Bale leapt above Jordi Alba to head in the goal that should have won the game in the 80th minute. As Bale celebrated, the referee raised his hand to signal for a foul, even though there appeared to be nothing wrong with the goal.

“I can’t believe it was disallowed,” Bale admitted. “[The referee] said to me that I pushed him. I didn’t even touch the guy. I was just a bit taller. I made sure I got over the top, I made sure I didn’t touch him because I know what the Spanish referees are like. It was a very bad decision in my eyes.”

There were 10 minutes left and Sergio Ramos was sent off two minutes later but, asked if he thought the chance had gone, Bale replied: “No, not really because I knew we had a lot of pace on the counterattack. I still felt fresh and could sprint a lot more. We always felt we could hit them on the counterattack even with 10 men.

So it proved. Five minutes later, Bale delivered the right-footed cross for Ronaldo to head in the winner. “I had seen him coming in the back post,” Bale said. “I knew I had to flight it to get it over. Obviously I had to judge it. It was nice for it to drop to him and thankfully it went in.”

“We had a gameplan, we know we’ve got speed on the counterattack so we used that to our advantage. We know obviously if you attack them they’re not the best defensive team in the world. They’re great at attacking so we worked on that in training and it has paid off.

“We’ve got belief in ourselves and we’ve been working hard on our fitness in training. Maybe being out of the Copa del Rey [throughout January] helps a little bit: we’ve had less games. We’re feeling strong, confident now, and it’s one final push until the end of the season.”

He added: “Tonight really does put us mentally in a strong position. We can beat anyone on our day: we showed that. People have been saying Barcelona are the best team and we beat them in their own back yard tonight.”

Real Madrid’s victory puts them seven points behind Barcelona with seven games remaining. Bale insisted Madrid will fight for the title but even if they cannot win it this result was “massive” for them.

“I think if the league’s still [mathematically] possible to win then we fully believe we can do it,” he said. “We know it’s not going to be easy, it’s very against us, but if we give ourselves a chance that’s all we can do. The most important thing today was to get the win, build confidence for the rest of the season. There’s still the Champions League as well, which we’re really looking forward to. It’s about building and growing strong.”