Four-goal Gareth Bale for Team of the Year?
Sunday, December 20, 2015
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A nominee for the UEFA.com users' Team of the Year, Gareth Bale served a reminder of his quality on Sunday with a four-goal haul in Real Madrid's 10-2 demolition of Rayo Vallecano.
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Gareth Bale enjoyed a career first on Sunday as he rattled in four goals during Real Madrid's 10-2 demolition of nine-man Ray Vallecano. The Wales forward thus doubled his Liga tally this season, and perhaps bolstered his chances of a third spot in the UEFA.com users' Team of the Year.
Selected for the final XI in 2011 and 2013, Bale did his prospects of a place in the 2015 edition no harm with his maiden quadruple in a league match, having also set up Madrid's opening goal for Danilo. Constantly involved in the Merengues' attacks against Rayo Vallecano, the 26-year-old ended the game with four strikes from five shots on target – outshining hat-trick scorer Karim Benzema and two-goal Cristiano Ronaldo.
It proved an excellent way to see out the year, with Rafael Benítez's third-placed side facing just one more outing – against Real Sociedad on 30 December – before 2016. Injured earlier this season, Bale can also look back on 12 months that included Wales's first ever qualification for the UEFA European Championship, with the former Tottenham Hotspur dynamo finding the net seven times for his country in ten qualifiers. But has he done enough to make your Team of the Year?
