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Gareth Bale, left, celebrates with Xabi Alonso after scoring his team's second goal during the final of the Copa del Rey. Alberto Saiz

Last night’s Clásico proved that Gareth Bale is the real deal

The Welshman outshone fellow big-name summer signing Neymar, as Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey at the expense of rivals Barcelona.

DESPITE THE PRESENCE of countless phenomenally talented players in last night’s Copa del Rey final, there was only one star that people were focused on after the game: Gareth Bale.

“It was definitely his most important goal for Madrid,” Real boss Carlo Ancelotti said of Bale’s late winner, speaking afterwards to AFP. “It was the defining moment in the game.”

“It was incredible, I have never seen anything like it,” added Bale’s teammate Xabi Alonso. “It looked like the ball was going out, but he kept pushing and ran off the field to get it. It was amazing.”

The moment represented another dramatic turn in what has been a whirlwind few months both for Bale personally, and for Barca and Real in general.

Last October, Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the first Clásico of the season to strike a seemingly significant psychological blow in the La Liga title race. And generally, these games are seen as being crucial in deciding who ultimately emerges as the domestic champions in any given season, owing to the usual lack of competition in the league elsewhere (granted, Atlético are an obvious anomaly this season).

Moreover, the Catalan side again triumphed last month away to Madrid in a thrilling 4-3 victory that seemingly reinvigorated their title bid. Yet since that moment, it seems as if almost everything that could go wrong has, as far as Barca are concerned. They’ve been knocked out of the Champions League, been beaten by lowly Granada, received a 14-month transfer ban that’s likely to have serious ramifications on an already somewhat depleted squad, and it’s been practically confirmed that embattled manager Gerardo Martino will leave the club at the end of the season.

For a side such as Barca who normally possess an embarrassment of riches and enjoy success after near-relentless success, this is as close to a crisis as they are likely to come.

And last night, the sense that their season was dramatically unravelling seemed more palpable than ever, as their hopes of silverware were left in tatters, having been contending for a historic treble just over a week ago.

The woe that characterised their 2-1 Copa del Rey final loss to Real Madrid was epitomised in the form of another hapless performance from their expensive summer acquisition Neymar, the young Brazilian striker who has so far failed to live up to his exorbitant €57million price tag.

It’s thus amazing to reflect on that aforementioned Clásico just six months ago. Neymar scored the opener and was generally deemed to have played quite well. Gareth Bale, by contrast, was conspicuously inept — his decision-making was poor and on the few occasions that he had a chance to make an impact, he either failed to trouble the goalkeeper with a wildly-struck shot, ran down a blind alley, or elected to shirk responsibility altogether and innocuously pass to a teammate. He was ultimately put out of his misery after just 61 minutes of the game in question, when Carlo Ancelotti replaced him with Karim Benzema.

Of course, Neymar was good but not great on that occasion, while Bale was still recovering from a long-term injury and an intensive summer of transfer speculation leading to a lack of training that meant he was ill-prepared for the new season. But overriding footballing narratives rarely take such complexities into account — hence, many people after the game suggested that Neymar was worth the €57million that Barca paid, while Real Madrid supposedly had an expensive flop on their hands.

Spain Soccer Champions League Andres Kudacki Andres Kudacki

(Neymar has had a somewhat disappointing first season at Barca by most accounts)

While quite possibly hurt by those eager to write him off prematurely, Bale has undoubtedly survived worse in his career. Despite actually playing relatively well in the early part of his Tottenham career, he was part of an embattled Spurs team that had serious problems elsewhere. This widespread lack of confidence in the side affected Bale to an extent, and coupled with long-term injury problems that also hampered his progress, the youngster was lazily branded a £5million flop by some media outlets and heavily linked with moves to clubs such as Birmingham and Nottingham Forest. Yet he illustrated his mental toughness by recovering from those early setbacks, and history has repeated itself to a degree in recent times, as the 24-year-old has increasingly flourished following a difficult start to life in La Liga.

So far this season, Bale has 20 goals and 16 assists in 35 appearances — a superior overall record to his incredible Tottenham form last year (24 goals and eight assists in 41 appearances), which earned him the transfer to Madrid in the first place.

Neymar, in comparison, has nine goals and eight assists in 25 La Liga appearances, while Bale has 14 goals and 12 assists in 22 domestic games for Real. Almost every way you look at it therefore, the Welsh star has eclipsed his counterpart, and this was particularly true of last night’s Copa del Rey final.

Quite simply, nothing went right for Neymar — if he found himself in a good position, the flag went up for offside, if he beat an opposition player, another was on hand to intercept possession. The Brazilian’s confidence consequently appeared to dwindle as the game progressed, whereas Bale started strongly and improved from there.

Even before his masterful late winner, Bale could not have been accused of playing on the periphery of the game as has been the case in the previous two Clásicos in which the Welshman’s been involved. He was a constant threat, going close on more than one occasion with powerfully struck attempts on goal, consistently making good decisions when in possession and even having a hand in Real’s first consummately executed counter-attacking opener.

There was no doubt that Bale was in the mood to punish Barca’s vulnerable-looking defence, while Neymar was scarcely noticeable for much of the game, save for the odd petty squabble with an opposition defender.

Then, on 85 minutes, Bale produced a goal befitting of a €100million player. He has scored plenty of similar and even superior efforts before, but never of such importance or on so big a stage. Around the halfway line, he casually stroked the ball past Marc Bartra before breaking into a stride worthy of an Olympic sprinter. He then illustrated the skill he possesses to complement his ferocious pace and power, cutting inside the trailing defender and showing some deft touches, before finishing coolly past José Pinto.

And as if the contrast between Bale’s joy and Neymar’s despair wasn’t stark enough as it was, the Barca striker missed a gilt-edged opportunity to equalise late on, hitting the post with the goal at his mercy, to sum up a wretched evening for the youngster.

Accordingly, before now, the only factor tarnishing an otherwise excellent first La Liga season for Bale was an ostensible inability to make a considerable impact when Real needed him most. Granted, he scored in the 3-0 Champions League quarter-final first-leg win against Dortmund, but he performed with a similar lack of conviction to that demonstrated by the rest of the team, as they were defeated 2-0 in the second leg and marginally made it through to the next round thanks to a narrow aggregate victory. In addition, coupled with his no-shows in previous Clásicos, he was equally underwhelming in both of Real’s league encounters with Atlético.

However, last night, Bale finally proved he is the real deal with a highly mature, near-faultless and most importantly of all, match-winning performance. Neymar, in contrast, is still just a 22-year-old with enormous potential. And therein, perhaps, lies the difference between what €57million and €100million will get you in football nowadays.
http://vine.co/v/M1zdPJYzOMu

h/t @FootballVines

Great news Liverpool fans, Man City were held to a draw by Sunderland tonight>

Everton slip to defeat at home to Crystal Palace>

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22 Comments
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    Mute P O Leary
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    Apr 17th 2014, 8:26 AM

    Delighted for him. Great player and comes across as a nice fellow.

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    Mute The Animal
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    Apr 17th 2014, 8:24 AM

    Proof that if you want quality you have to pay for it. To think Harry Redknapp was once prepared to swap him for Stewart Downing at spurs.

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    Mute Bryan Dillard
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    Apr 17th 2014, 9:35 AM

    I think you’ll find that the investigation into neymar’s dubious transfer diacovered he actually cost closer to 86 million euros.

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    Mute Mattew Keane
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    Apr 17th 2014, 9:54 AM

    I’m delighted Barca were beaten and not just because I’m a UTD fan but as the season has gone on I’ve grown a big dislike towards Neymar and his carry on .

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    Mute An Inquiring Mind
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    Apr 17th 2014, 8:56 AM

    Another anonymous display from Messi. Easily marked out of it. Ronaldo seemed to have a bigger influence on the game at times and he was on the bench. Rumors concerning Messi coming out of Barca do not bode well for their future. He looks at times to be dragging the whole team down.

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    Mute Derek Mc Donnell
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    Apr 17th 2014, 9:10 AM

    You cant become a bad player overnight and you certainly cant keep that goals and assists ratio up,having said that messi is and has been played out of postion most of the season and does look dejected but he cant keeping carrying his team over the line.

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    Mute An Inquiring Mind
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    Apr 17th 2014, 9:30 AM

    Never said he was a bad player. But there are serious issues with Messi on the pitch and particulary behind the scenes. To put it kindly, he’s not the most popular player in the dressing room. Barca gave a real problem in what to do with their tailsman. His lack of personality and how unpopular he is within the team has been well documented over the last year by ex players and staff. There is no denying his greatness but there is no ‘I’ in team. I say this as a life long Barca fan. But the Messi of the last 18mths is not the same player we all lovef before.

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    Mute Daniel Mc Atirah
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    Apr 17th 2014, 9:46 AM

    Very easy to criticise one player when in fact it is the whole team who are playing poorly.
    It is a team game as you say, but there you are singling Messi out? Contradicting yourself.
    If those around him aren’t on top of their game how can Messi be found in his favourite positions.

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    Mute Conor Cahill
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    Apr 17th 2014, 11:16 AM

    If you go ont Youtube to watch the rest of the video, a certain Sergio Busquets (no. 16) in this video just got shot by an invisible gunman because as soon as the ball went in, he decided to go for a dive again, which I understand is his trademark reaction to conceding a goal…and when he’s touched in the slightest.

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    Mute Leopold Dedalus
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    Apr 17th 2014, 4:50 PM

    Actually I’d say it more proved that Pinto is a pile of garbage as a goalkeeper (not that we needed any more proof of that). Bale’s run was excellent but both goals were down to horrendous ‘keeping.

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    Mute Darren Carey
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    Apr 17th 2014, 10:04 AM

    It was a decent goal he scored. But he didn’t do much throughout the game. Barca dominated possession. Madrid threatened on the counter with their pace but Bale didn’t shine.

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    Mute Barry Smyth
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    Apr 17th 2014, 10:27 AM

    Barcelona dominated possession against Bayern in last year’s semi final yet lost the tie 7-0 .

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    Mute Darren Carey
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    Apr 17th 2014, 11:02 AM

    Yeah, but Real didn’t have much possession and that for Bale to prove he’s the real deal. Scored a good goal, couple of half chances. Until he scores in most game and shows up in the big games he’s not going to be one of the best players in world. When they got bested 4-3 a few weeks ago he was anonymous. So one goal doesn’t warrant him the “real deal” title.

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    Mute Alex Olsen
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    Apr 17th 2014, 11:04 AM

    Bale was very quiet during the game, in fact did very little, but scored the winning goal so job done!

    However the the barca goalkeeper was extremely poor for both goals…

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    Mute Darren Carey
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    Apr 17th 2014, 11:09 AM

    Yeah, huge goal he got. But to call him the real deal after that game is a bit much.

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    Mute Barry Smyth
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    Apr 17th 2014, 11:11 AM

    The title is a play on words.

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    Mute Darren Carey
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    Apr 17th 2014, 11:13 AM

    Yeah, but they’re still saying he’s the real deal. Play on words or now.

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    Mute Conor Cahill
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    Apr 17th 2014, 11:18 AM

    Considering Darren that he actually scored the winning goal in a prestigious Cup Final, and that performance and overwhelming dominance of possession doesn’t guarantee you a win! In recent times, Barcelona have had to learn that the hard way.

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    Mute Daniel Mc Atirah
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    Apr 17th 2014, 12:37 PM

    Actually his stats in his debut season in a new league show that he is definitely the “Real Deal”.
    Winning the Player of the Year award in The Premier League the yr before also shows that he’s the real deal. No doubt about it.

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    Mute Paddy
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    Apr 17th 2014, 1:19 PM

    In fairness Darren, I think we knew he was the real deal long before he signed for Real…

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    Mute vv7k7Z3c
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    Apr 17th 2014, 3:13 PM

    Strange as it may seem, there were still people who doubted Bale before last night’s game and who pointed to the fact that he’d never really done it in a Clásico. There were also plenty of people who were skeptical before the start of the season as to whether he’d make it in Spain, given the pressure prompted by his price tag, the fierce competition from the likes of Ronaldo etc. Hence, while many of us believed he was the real deal long before last night, the game proved it to the type of critics who judge him by ridiculously high standards.

    Also, as for the argument that he did little apart from scoring the second goal, he had a hand in the first goal, scored another goal that was ruled out for offside, had a couple of excellent efforts on goal that troubled the keeper, produced an inch-perfect cross for what should have been another Real goal, beat two defenders and unfortunately found the wrong side of the post and generally kept the Barca defence on tenterhooks all night. For a game in which Barca dominated possession, as has been pointed out, I’d say his level of involvement was actually pretty impressive.

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    Mute Turnip McGettigan
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    Apr 17th 2014, 11:06 PM

    Turnip McGettigan <————Legend

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