On This Day Six Years Ago: Gareth Bale Put Marc Bartra’s Soul Into A Blender

From the Managing Madrid archives, as written by Tommy Kulkis:

Shortly after halftime Gareth Bale created another chance for Real Madrid. After a hard tackle on Cesc Fabregas, Dani Carvajal did well to get the ball to Bale on the wing. The Welshman dribbled past Busquets before putting a rather poor attempt on goal into the side netting of Pinto’s goal. It was a wasted chance to go 2 goals clear of their arch-rivals, as pressure to live up to his price tag continued to mount on the young winger’s shoulders.

Bale was given another chance just minutes after. Although a much tougher shot, Bale’s volley went just over the goal. Madrid sections of the stadium began to whistle as they grew impatient with the newest Galáctico’s wastefulness. Shortly after, Karim Benzema made his presence in the match known when he forced Pinto into a save at his near post.

Madrid were firmly in control of the match, but their wastefulness would prove costly. After Gareth Bale had a goal ruled out, Barcelona quickly won a corner in the other half. The resulting corner kick finally gave Barcelona the equalizer they needed. An unmarked Marc Bartra headed a perfectly placed shot past Iker Casillas as Cules everywhere went wild.

Both teams began searching for the winner, but Madrid looked more likely to do so. Another counter attack ended in another Gareth Bale shot coming to nothing, while Modric struck the post from long range after picking Sergio Busquets’ pocket. The match started to look like it was headed for an unpredictable Extra Time period, but then a moment of brilliance occurred.

Isco and Fabio Coentrao combined deep in their own half before the latter was able to advance into enough space to get the ball to an accelerating Gareth Bale. Bale’s first touch knocked the ball forward and led to one of his trademark sprints down the wing. Marc Bartra tried to push the Welshman out of bounds, but it was futile. The Spanish defender was left in the dust, and could only watch helplessly as Bale threaded the winner through the legs of the keeper.

Where were you when this happened?