GARETH BALE hilariously picked HIMSELF as the greatest ever Champions League player… but fans were more interested in him snubbing a Real Madrid legend.
Real Madrid, Tottenham and Wales legend Bale, 34, won five Champions Leagues during his time in Spain, scoring three goals across two finals in 2014 and 2018.
He is now gearing up to watch Los Blancos in their first final since his departure from the Bernabeu in 2022 as Real face off against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on Saturday night.
Ahead of the clash, Bale was tasked with picking the best Champions League player of all time.
He was given 16 names – himself, Karim Benzema, Zinedine Zidane, Gianluigi Buffon, Cristiano Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard, Lionel Messi, Kaka, Xavi, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, Luka Modric, Andres Iniesta, Toni Kroos and Robert Lewandowski.
He ended up with the four semi-finalists as himself and three old team-mates in Ronaldo, Modric and Kroos.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
Bale picked himself ahead of Ronaldo and Modric ahead of Kroos, before selecting his image for the victory as he laughed at his own decision.
However, viewers were more interested in Bale ousting Zidane for Benzema in the first pick of the video.
Zidane, who reached three Champions League finals as a player and won the tournament with Real Madrid in 2002, coached Bale and Co to three successive triumphs between 2016 and 2018.
But the relationship between Bale and Zidane fractured in 2019 when the French manager made it clear he wanted to sell the Welshman.
Most read in Champions League
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS
And fans believe this to be the reason for Bale getting rid of Zidane so quickly.
One said: “Of course he didn’t pick Zidane.”
While another added: “He was never gonna pick Zidane 😂.”
And a third replied: “Bruh still hates Zidane.”
Meanwhile, Bale was promoting the launch of “The Pledge Ball”, a football made from recycled boots and engraved with pledges by the football community to inspire collective action on sustainability.
At a Mastercard panel on the power of football to inspire change, Bale said: “I’ve been lucky enough to achieve my goals in football, score a few too, and think it’s important that we all try to set personal goals for the things that are important to us.
“It’s why I’ve given my pledge to the Mastercard Pledge Ball, and I hope the 450 million fans set to watch the final next week are inspired to do the same.
“If football has a superpower, it’s teamwork, and I think that’s exactly what our planet needs a bit of right now.”
Bale’s pledge on the ball is to “drink plant-based milk alternatives”.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
