Best Champions League display ever? Gareth Bale's ridiculous performance in Inter v Spurs | OneFootball

Gareth Bale is a Champions League legend. There's no doubt about it.

The Welshman has won Europe's premier cup competition four times with Real Madrid.

He played an integral role in their 2018 triumph, scoring twice as the Spanish side beat Liverpool 3-1 in Kiev.

The north London side travelled to Italy for their group stage game as huge underdogs against the reigning champions.

And Spurs endured a nightmare in the first half in Milan.

Javier Zanetti opened the scoring after just two minutes. Things went from bad to worse when Spurs stopper Heurelho Gomes was sent off six minutes.

Inter made their dominance count as they would go on to hold a resounding four-goal lead at the break.

Spurs needed a miracle to get back in the game and Bale, just 21 years old at the time, would provide just that as he produced arguably the greatest 45 minutes from an individual player in Champions League history.

Bale made it 4-1 seven minutes after the break after a stunning solo run.

The Welshman carried the ball 50 yards - leaving the legendary Zanetti in his dust - before smashing the ball into the far corner.

Bale would score twice more in stoppage time.

He embarrassed Zanetti yet again to score his second, before completing his hat-trick with a cool finish from inside the box.

Spurs would ultimately lose 4-3 but it was still a quite incredible performance from Bale.

BT Sport have compiled his highlights and you can watch them below...

What a display. Bale really did announce himself to the world that day.

Football fans have been reacting to his performance. View some of the best reaction below...

Zanetti reflected on that night in 2018 and he was full of praise for Bale.

"I remember scoring my goal early on, and then even though we got the win they were very dangerous, especially through the pace of Bale," he told football.london.

"We all know what happened. They were better in the second game and deserved to get the win.

"I think Bale established himself around the world after that game. Having said that, he would have made the step up sooner or later because of the quality he has."

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