Gareth Bale was the hero for Real Madrid the last time Liverpool and Real Madrid met in the final of the Champions League four years ago.
Deployed from the bench in the 61st minute of the match in Kyiv, with the score at 1-1, the Welsh forward produced a stunning overhead kick after only three minutes on the pitch. Bale then added a second goal late on, with Loris Karius fumbling the Welshman's shot from distance.
Liverpool failed to recover from an injury sustained by Mohamed Salah in the first half, which saw the Egyptian's evening ended early following a challenge from Sergio Ramos. This was the third final the Reds had lost under Jurgen Klopp and, arguably, the most distressing given the circumstances of the contest.
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You could see the pain in the eyes of Jordan Henderson and the rest of the Liverpool first team after being denied European glory as Madrid celebrated a 13th title in the competition. Despite emerging as a game-changer for Los Blancos, Bale had only started one game during the 2017/18 knockout phase and expressed his desire for regular game time when speaking after the match.
In the days following the final, it was reported the now-32-year-old had spent 20 minutes inside the Liverpool dressing room to console beaten Reds players. Bale allegedly used the majority of his time talking to his former Southampton colleague Adam Lallana, who he played with at St Mary's in 2006, and Wales international team-mate Ben Woodburn.
A conversation between Bale and Lallana did take place. However, this occurred in the drug testing room after both players had been called for a mandatory doping test by UEFA after the full-time whistle. The Madrid winger then saw Woodburn in the corridor afterwards, and spent a brief period conversing with his Welsh compatriot.
