Gareth Bale: ‘Real Madrid have an aura

Five-time Champions League winner on Saturday’s final with Dortmund, life after retirement and his role with Underrated Golf

Gareth Bale’s boyish complexion infers he could well be participating in Saturday’s Champions League final. Instead, a decade on from winning the competition for the first of five times with Real Madrid, the 34-year-old will gladly watch on from the Wembley stands. Almost 17 months have passed since Bale announced the end of a decorated playing career. His contentment is immediately obvious.

“It will be nice, not going in with all that pressure and expectation,” he says of the final. “So something I’m not really used to. I’ll enjoy the occasion without being in that pressure cooker.”