We make the tough decision to pick out the five best performances of Spurs star Gareth Bale.
Sky Sports picks out the five best performances of Gareth Bale
Gareth Bale was on Sunday night named the PFA Player of the Year for the second time thanks to some stunning performances for Tottenham Hotspur this season.
Here,
Sky Sports looks at five of the Welshman's best displays so far for the North London club.
INTER MILAN 4 TOTTENHAM 3 - Champions League, October 20, 2010
Spurs looked set to be humiliated when holders Inter raced into a 4-0 lead inside 35 minutes through goals from Javier Zanetti, a Samuel Eto'o penalty - after goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes had been sent off - Dejan Stankovic and Eto'o again. But Bale almost completed a sensational comeback single-handedly, scoring one of the goals of the season before netting twice in the closing seconds to burst onto the world stage.
TOTTENHAM 2 LYON 1 - Europa League, February 14, 2013
Bale took a leaf from Cristiano Ronaldo's book with a 40-yard free-kick that flew over the wall and then dipped before beating Lyon goalkeeper Remy Vercoutre low to his right. And the Wales international secured a vital first-leg win with another piece of magic to score a second free-kick deep into the second half.
WEST HAM 2 TOTTENHAM 3 - Premier League, February 25, 2013
Having put Spurs ahead with a low, driven finish early in the game, Bale looked set to be on the losing side as the Hammers hit back to take the lead. But despite being up-ended as Spurs chased a win following an equaliser, he picked himself up before rifling in an unstoppable shot with no time left on the clock for West Ham to respond.
TOTTENHAM 2 NEWCASTLE 1 - Premier League, February 9, 2013
After manager Andre Villas-Boas had talked up the similarities between Bale and Ronaldo during the week, Bale lived up to the hype with a 25-yard free-kick to open the scoring for the Londoners. And the 23-year-old sealed the win with a superb break-away goal that ended with him slotting the ball between Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul's legs.
SWANSEA 1 TOTTENHAM 2 - Premier League, March 30, 2013
Bale was described as "world class" by Villas-Boas and "exceptional" by opposite number Michael Laudrup after scoring one, setting up the other and then making a vital block in injury-time to secure victory over Swansea. With seven minutes on the clock he produced a delicate chip into the path of Jan Vertonghen who controlled before opening the scoring, and on 21 minutes made it 2-0 with a stunning strike with the outside of his left foot into the top corner. After Swansea had pulled one back, Bale came to the rescue in the dying moments by throwing his body in the way of Nathan Dyer's goal-bound shot.
