The Wales international came off the bench to score with his first touch and send his side into Saturday’s final against Gremio
Real Madrid supersub Gareth Bale admitted he was delighted to be back on the pitch after his goal secured a tense victory over Al Jazira on Wednesday.
The Emirati side proved unexpectedly tough opposition for Madrid, who even went behind when Romarinho opened the scoring.
Cristiano Ronaldo eventually made the breakthrough with a second-half equaliser before Bale jumped off the bench and scored with his first touch to secure a 2-1 victory.
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It was the Wales international’s first taste of first-team action since suffering a hip injury in October, and he was pleased to be back in the Madrid line-up.
“It was nice to come on, players go through these phases in their careers and it’s my turn I suppose, but it was nice to come on and to get the winner,” Bale explained to reporters after the final whistle.
“The most important thing was to get to the final, it didn’t matter who scored, but it was obviously nice on a personal level.”
As well as Romarinho, goalkeeper Ali Khaseif was another hero as he made save after save before coming off injured in the second half.
“It was amazing, [Khaseif] made some amazing saves and we were joking about it on the bench, but then it started to get a bit more serious,” Bale joked when asked about the acrobatic shot-stopper.
“He made it difficult for us, I think we had a lot of chances and on another day it could have been more but you have to give credit to them, they fought hard and we had to get the job done, in the end we did it.”
Brazil’s Copa Libertadores champions Gremio now lie in wait for the Merengue in the final, having won their semi over Pachuca on Tuesday – news that apparently did not reach Bale’s ears.
“I didn’t even know who was in the final until you just said!” the Welshman said when asked about Madrid’s next opponents.
“I suppose now we’ll recover from this and pay attention to the next game.”