Welsh winger Gareth Bale says that the Champions League triumph with Real Madrid will remain in his memory forever after the 24-year-old's extra time strike helped the Los Blancos beat rivals Atletico Madrid 4-1 and secure their much awaited "La Decima."
Atletico were just seconds away from lifting the Champions League title in Lisbon, after Diego Godin put them ahead in the 36th minute, when a late header from Sergio Ramos forced the game into extra time.
The former Tottenham man, who arrived at Real Madrid for a record breaking transfer fee of £86 million last summer, managed to justify his huge price-tag by putting his team in front in the 110th minute via an opportunistic close-range header.
Finally Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo added the icing on the cake by scoring the third and fourth goal as Real Madrid lifted their tenth European Cup, with Bale saying winning the Champions League with Real is like a dream come true for him.
"This is what every footballer dreams of, winning the Champions League, it doesn't come any bigger than that in club football. It was an unbelievable feeling, it will be a memory forever," Bale, who also scored the crucial winning goal against Barcelona in the final of the Copa Del Rey, told Sky Sports.
"The most important thing for me is we worked hard as a team tonight and won the trophy and the 10th title for the club. The price-tag means nothing. If I came here for a penny, I came to the club to play in big competitions and win trophies like we have this season. The move has paid off now and we want to win more now."
However, Bale, who missed several chances during the earlier stages of the game, admitted Atletico made them work quite hard for the victory.
"It was a close game, especially in normal time. We've played against Atletico four times this season and every game is very close and very difficult," Bale added. "When they do get a goal ahead it's hard to break them down but luckily we managed to get a goal in injury time and that gave us the extra momentum.
"I think we've been showing that when we play our own football we win football games. It was just keep attacking, keep doing what we do best, and we all believed in that. I have learned from past experiences to keep going, to forget about the chances I've missed and keep persevering and eventually one will come.
"Thankfully I got a decisive goal and it gave us a lot of momentum going into the final 10 minutes."
