Gareth Bale is hoping his special connection with the Champions League will enable him to go out on a Real Madrid high after being given just two more opportunities to play for the Spanish giants again.
Bale has been left out of Real's match day squad entirely for Sunday night's La Liga clash with Cadiz, despite returning to training following a back spasm. It gives him just the final league match with Real Betis and then the big Euro final versus Liverpool for Bale to pull on Madrid colours again.
Once the May 28 clash with Liverpool is out of the way, Bale will focus on Wales' huge World Cup play-off crunch with Scotland or the Ukraine in Cardiff on June 5. He will then determine his future, with his home-town Bluebirds 1-3 ON favourites to pull off the most sensational transfer in Welsh football history.
The Bluebirds say they will be 'willing listeners' if Bale does decide to come home, although clearly any move would need to be pre-empted by the Wales captain given the much smaller salary that would be on offer. Bale has also been linked with the MLS in America and various Premier League clubs, but a move to Cardiff could appeal at this stage of his career and he is understood to be weighing up the option.
Cardiff are in the middle of the biggest rebuilding job in their history with as many as 21 players set to leave this summer and a massive number also coming in. You can read who they are here.
Steve Morison intends to put together a far more fit for purpose squad capable of pushing for the Premier League next season. Whether Bale forms part of that, we will find out during the summer once Wales World Cup and Nations League matches are out of the way.
As things stand, his focus is upon making a final mark with Real Madrid in the next fortnight to cap off a nine year spell in the Spanish capital. Despite overlooking Bale for the game against Cadiz, Real boss Carlo Ancelotti may yet look to utilise his big game experience as they seek to stop Liverpool chasing a hat-trick of cup wins this season.
Jurgen Klopp's side, the League Cup already in the bag, also beat Chelsea on penalties to lift the FA Cup on Saturday.
The big one, of course, is the Champions League final and Bale has great history with that particular game. He scored the decisive second goal to set Real Madrid en route to a 4-1 extra time win over Atletico Madrid in 2014.
Bale then scored a spot kick as Real beat their city rivals on penalties in 2016, before coming on as a substitute to play a role as Real overcame Juventus 4-1 at the Principality Stadium the following year.
Crucially, he bagged two goals against Liverpool the season after, again as a substitute, as Real won 3-1 in Kyiv against Klopp's Reds to make it four triumphs in five years. Ancelotti may yet bank on that Bale knack of scoring when it matters in the big games for the looming clash with Liverpool again at the Stade de France towards the end of the month.
If so, it would at least enable Bale to go out on a high after a recent welter of bad publicity in the Spanish media and finding himself booed by his own Real Madrid fans.
Much of the criticism is viewed as over the top and for the most part Bale has had a stellar time with Real Madrid, helping them win four Champions Leagues, La Liga titles and scoring close on 100 goals in 258 appearances. He again proved to be a big game player with those two recent goals for Wales in the World Cup play-off with Austria in Cardiff - and that knack of doing it when it really matters is something Ancelotti may yet choose to utilise.
