UEFA panel needs sacking!' - Bale baffled by Goal of the Season snub

The Welshman would not be drawn on whether his
overhead kick was better than Cristiano Ronaldo's -
but he can't believe it was overlooked entirely

Gareth Bale expressed his surprise after UEFA's Goal
of the Season panel overlooked his overhead kick in
the Champions League final, joking that the
governing body's decision makers "want to be
sacked".

The goal put Real Madrid 2-1 up against Liverpool in
Kiev and Bale scored again in the last 10 minutes of
the game to help secure a third consecutive
Champions League trophy for his club.

Despite the spectacular nature of his first strike,
the panel adjudicating UEFA's Goal of the Season
award for 2017-18 opted to shortlist Cristiano
Ronaldo's acrobatic goal in the quarter-final victory
over Juventus ahead of Bale's goal, with only one
nominee from each of the main UEFA competitions
allowed on the list.

"I want to know who is on the panel because they
want to be sacked."

Ronaldo's strike won the vote, with Dimitri Payet's
Europa League quarter-final goal for Marseille
finishing second ahead of Eva Navarro's curling
effort for Spain in the Under-17 Championship
final.

Bale was coy on the question of whether or not his
goal was superior to Ronaldo's, saying: "It's not for me to say!"

His strike is widely regarded as one of the best in
Champions League final history and rapidly earned
comparisons with Zinedine Zidane's effort in Los
Blancos' 2002 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at
Hampden

Fittingly, Zidane was in charge of Madrid when Bale
scored his effort in Ukraine, although he stepped
down in the aftermath of the victory.

The Welshman has admitted that it was a goal
fuelled by the frustration of having been left on the
bench by the Frenchman , crediting his anger as the
reason he came on and made such a dramatic
impact on the game.

Madrid have started a new era under the guidance
of coach Julen Lopetegui, and with Cristiano Ronaldo
sold this summer to Juventus, it has opened the door
for Bale to play a more regular role in the team

The 29-year-old has started all of his side's La Liga
matches this term and has rewarded his new boss
with a return of three goals and two assists.
Saturday's 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao was the
first time this term he had failed to find the target
in the Primera Division as Madrid dropped their first
points of the season.