Search icon

Sport

28th May 2016

Gareth Bale’s Champions League triumph has Welsh fans dreaming of Euro 2016 glory

Calm down

Kevin Beirne

It can be hard not to get carried away after a big win.

Real Madrid didn’t really overcome the odds so much as did what they were expected to do by beating Atletico Madrid on Saturday night.

Los Blancos eked past their crosstown rivals to claim their 11th European title in a tense, uneven encounter.

Real had the best of things in the opening half of the game, with Sergio Ramos giving them the lead after guiding Gareth Bale’s flick past the immense Jan Oblak from an offside position.

And although Yannick Carrasco came on to equalise and force extra time, the 2014 European champions came out on top once more after Cristiano Ronaldo nailed the winning penalty (despite being totally anonymous throughout the game).

In the aftermath of the victory, Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale was asked if he would be able to take the winning mentality with him to France this summer as Wales take part in their first ever European Championships. And the former Spurs man didn’t flinch.

Now far be it from us to moralise here, but we think the most expensive team in footballing history beating their smaller, worse funded rivals in a final is a little different than a Welsh team who have not been to a major tournament in 58 years upsetting two of the greatest international teams ever assembled.

But hey, that didn’t stop fans from dreaming. And really, with the way Leicester ran away with the Premier League title, who’s to say* Wales can’t win it this year?

https://twitter.com/Carltooooon/status/736674358085705729

https://twitter.com/SheehanCCFC/status/736672115127111682

https://twitter.com/kasimali23/status/736637605647929348

*We’ll say it: Wales will not win Euro 2016.