Unbelievable Bale goal stuns Liverpool as Real Madrid win CL

Joe Williams

Real Madrid substitute Gareth Bale scored twice – including a brilliant overhead kick – to win a Champions League final which ended in tears for Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah in Kiev.

The Wales international, the first British player to score a winner in the European Cup final since Liverpool-born Peter Withe in 1982, produced an influential 29-minute cameo in the 3-1 victory which was a horror show for Reds goalkeeper Loris Karius.

Out-of-form Karim Benzema was gifted an early second-half goal when he intercepted a Karius throw, poking the ball into the net – and although Sadio Mane quickly equalised Bale struck twice.

The Wales international’s first goal was sublime and in many ways reminiscent of his manager Zinedine Zidane’s goal which won the 2002 final, but his second was pure comedy as Karius let a 30-yard strike slip through his fingers.

It was a devastating blow for Jurgen Klopp’s side, who lost Salah to a suspected dislocated shoulder midway through the first half.