La Decima point key for €100m man Bale

From his first day in Madrid, Gareth Bale knew all about La Decima. He had just become the most expensive player in world football, and a succession of well-wishers stopped by to make it clear to the Welshman that he had been bought for one reason above all others: to help Real Madrid to their tenth European Cup.

To call the 12-year pursuit of La Decima an obsession would be to underplay it.

Madrid have spent €1.1bn on players and gone through 11 different managers since Zinedine Zidane’s lazy, perfect volley tore past Bayer Leverkusen’s Hans-Jorg Butt in Glasgow back in 2002 to win their ninth crown.

Real Madrid have not even reached a final since then, but that all changed with an imperious display in Munich on Tuesday night. Their 4-0 victory over Bayern Munich — completing a 5-0 aggregate whitewash — was perhaps the finest European performance by any side since AC Milan defeated Barcelona in the 1994 showpiece.

Bale was central to the drama. The pace of the Welshman and Cristiano Ronaldo were integral to the threat that Real carried as they allowed Bayern to enjoy sterile possession before launching lightning-quick breaks. After a nervous start to life in Madrid following his record-breaking €103m move from Tottenham, he seems at home in such illustrious company.

The expectation of delivering La Decima could crush some characters, but if Real do triumph in Lisbon next month it will ensure this team a place in history.

“When I signed I was told all about it,” said Bale about La Decima as he reflected on what he called a ‘perfect’ performance, which on a personal basis peaked with his assist for Ronaldo to sweep home Real’s third.

“There is a lot of expectation at Real but there is more expectation about that. We are happy to be in there now, happy to have a chance of actually winning it.

“We cannot get carried away by just being in the final. We have to execute our game plan the way we did [against Bayern].

“It is a dream come true, not just for me but for everybody at Real Madrid. It was a perfect game but we know we have one more hard team to go.

“It is just the most massive club, the expectation is absolutely huge but we all thrive on pressure, we certainly did against Bayern.

“We have performed unbelievably on the pitch all season, we have one more game to go and I’m looking forward to it. Are we now the team to beat? No matter who it is or where you are, everybody wants to beat Real Madrid.”

Everyone wants to get one over on Bale, too. The speed of his ascent to the summit of world football is perhaps unmatched; he was a hugely talented youngster but not seemingly marked out for greatness in the same way Ronaldo or Lionel Messi were.

So does this quiet Cardiff boy ever take the time to evaluate how far he has come, and the rarified company he keeps? The answer is no, and it may be best for his sanity if that remains the case. “I do think of the journey and I do think it is great to have come this far but I also want to live in the here and now and not get carried away.

“It is nice to hear what other people say but I just want to play football and win as many trophies as I can and enjoy playing with the best in the world.

That is what I have been doing so far. Am I amazed how far I have come? Not really, because I am not the sort of person who tends to look back, really. I am someone who lives for the here and now.

“I try not to think about it [the fee]. I came to Madrid to play football and I am enjoying that.

“If I think about that and nothing else then I know I’ll play well. Yes, I am happy.”

So he should be. Injuries limited his early impact at the Bernabeu; he missed five of Real’s first 15 games of the season and failed to play 90 minutes in a further six. Now he has six goals in eight games and an upcoming appearance in a Champions League final.

“I didn’t realise how important a pre-season was until I came to Madrid. It took a little while for me to get going, which I think everyone understood. I was able to really kick on after Christmas, get my fitness up and play well.”

He is playing well now, as are Real. They will be favourites in the final after the performance of a lifetime. They filleted Bayern, then diced them for good measure.

Bayern were naive, playing a suicidally high line. Real’s opponents in Lisbon will not be quite as generous.

But for now, neither Bale nor Real care. La Decima is close.