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Stephen Pond/EMPICS Sport
Hot Spur

The reaction in Italy to Bale's masterclass

All the reaction after the Gareth Bale show in London last night.

GARETH BALE ONCE again boosted his reputation with a ‘top, top’ performance against holders Inter Milan last night. Here’s the footage.

As the Gazzetta dello Sport explained to its cappuccino-drinking readers this morning:

We learnt three things: Inter doesn’t have quality back-ups, it’s difficult to play without top midfielders and Bale is a Martian.

Today the newspapers are full of pieces charting the rise of the ‘Welsh wizard’ with The Telegraph praising Redknapp’s skill in ending the player’s infamous win jinx last year.

Redknapp admitted that he had been chided by rival and friend Alex Ferguson over his use of a player who seemed to have a hoodoo sign over the club. “You can’t pick him,” warned the Manchester United manager, “he’s jinxed.”

But in a perfect example of Redknapp’s intelligent man-management, Bale was eased on with six minutes remaining and with Spurs beating Burnley 4-0 little more than 13 months ago – just so the player, after 24 games without a Premier League victory, could actually say he had featured in a winning side. Spurs even scored a fifth goal, and the metamorphism was complete, the monkey ripped off Bale’s back.

And the White Hart Lane boss said that a former Inter star has given the young left-footed Welshman his seal of apporval:

“Luis Figo said that Bale is just amazing, just amazing,” he explained, “When Figo says that he has to be good because he was such a fantastic footballer himself. He said ‘Bale killed us (Inter) twice’. He didn’t ask about buying him, he just said Bale was fantastic.”

It’s like a rejected Fast Show sketch, but Italy’s version of Soccer Saturday and their unashamedly partizan reaction to the events at White Hart Lane is certainly worth a watch

According to the Guardian, Gazzetta dello Sport’s headline reads: “English lesson: Inter fall to Tottenham. Bale goes wild.”

While Corriere dello Sport expressed its awe for the ‘superb’ Wales winger thus: “Bale flattens Inter. The Welshman fires Tottenham to a 3-1 victory.”

The result sees Tottenham  leapfrog Inter into top spot in Group A on goal difference.