Real Madrid
On 1 September 2013, Spanish club Real Madrid announced that they had reached an agreement for the transfer of Bale, signing a six-year deal in a then world record deal. The Spanish press (and Real Madrid TV) reported that Bale had cost £77 million (€91 million), while the British press reported a world record transfer fee of £85.3 million (€100 million), which would be above Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer record fee of £80 million (€94 million); however, in January 2016, documents pertaining to the transfer were leaked by Football Leaks which confirmed a world record transfer fee of €100.8 million (£85.1 million). Bale's record was surpassed in August 2016 by Paul Pogba's record fee of €105 million (£89.2 million). Bale was assigned the number 11 shirt at Madrid.
The first half of Bale's season was plagued by injuries; of Real's first 16 games after his signing, Bale missed five and was substituted on or off in six others, playing only five full games. Bale scored on his Real Madrid debut, a goal coming in the 38th minute against Villarreal, before being substituted later in the game for Ángel Di María. Bale's second appearance for Madrid came in a 6–1 victory over Galatasaray in the Champions League. Although Bale only played the final 26 minutes, his free kick led to Cristiano Ronaldo's second goal of the game. On 28 September 2013, Bale made his home debut as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 loss to local rivals Atlético Madrid.
Following a brief appearance against Juventus in the Champions League, Bale made his El Clásico debut on 26 October, but was substituted in the 61st minute. Barcelona won the game 2–1 and Bale's performance drew some media criticism. Four days later, he scored two goals and assisted two in a 7–3 victory against Sevilla. Following his impressive performance the Spanish press nicknamed Bale "The Cannon".
In November, he assisted a further two goals in Madrid's 3–2 victory over Rayo Vallecano, before scoring in a 2–2 draw with Juventus in the Champions League. He then scored a 25-yard free kick against Galatasaray in the Champions League, a match which Madrid won 4–1 despite being a man down. On 30 November, Bale rounded off the month with his first hat-trick for Real Madrid, as well as assisting Karim Benzema, in a 4–0 victory over Real Valladolid. It was a "perfect hat-trick": one goal with a header and one with each foot.
On 26 February 2014, he scored twice in Real Madrid's 6–1 win against Schalke 04 in the Champions League round of 16 first leg. He then scored one of the team's three goals in a 3–0 quarter-final win over Borussia Dortmund on 2 April, taking him to five Champions League goals for the season. In La Liga, he scored four goals in three matches between gameweeks 31 and 33, as Real Madrid defeated Rayo Vallecano (5–0), Real Sociedad (4–0) and Almería (4–0).On 16 April, Bale scored the winning goal for Real Madrid with five minutes remaining in the 2014 Copa del Rey Final against rivals Barcelona. Considered one of the best goals of his career, Bale outsprinted Barcelona defender Marc Bartra from the halfway line (with Bale running off the field at one point) before converting past goalkeeper José Manuel Pinto. In the post match interview Bale stated, "I had to get round the player and go off the pitch to do it", while his Real Madrid teammate Xabi Alonso commented, "It was incredible, I have never seen anything like it". The goal was Bale's 20th of the season and his first in a Clásico fixture.
On 24 May, Bale scored in the 110th minute of the extra time period to put Real Madrid 2–1 up against city rivals Atlético Madrid in the 2014 Champions League Final, as Los Blancos won their tenth European Cup. The goal made Bale the first Welshman to score a goal in a European Cup/Champions League final. Bale finished his debut season with 22 goals and 16 assists in all competitions. Real Madrid's attacking trio of Bale, Benzema and Cristiano, dubbed BBC, finished the season with 97 goals.
Bale started the 2014–15 season in good form, playing the full 90 minutes and assisting Cristiano Ronaldo's first goal in a 2–0 win at the Cardiff City Stadium against Sevilla to win the 2014 UEFA Super Cup. After the match, his performance was described as "amazing" by Ronaldo. Six days later, Bale scored his first goal of the season in a 4–2 away loss to Real Sociedad. Bale scored twice in Real's 8–2 win over Deportivo La Coruña on 20 September 2014.
In December 2014, Bale scored in a third major final, the second goal in a 2–0 win over San Lorenzo, to help the club win the FIFA Club World Cup. In a match against Espanyol on 10 January 2015, Bale was booed by a section of Madrid fans who adjudged him as being selfish in shooting for goal and not passing to Ronaldo. Bale was defended by Carlo Ancelotti over this plus difficulties at the end of the season. On 18 April, Bale sustained a calf injury against Málaga.
Bale scored twice in Real's win over Real Betis in September 2015. His two goals took the total number of goals of Madrid's attacking trio of Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo to 200 goals since they first played together in 2013.
On 20 December 2015, he scored four goals in a 10–2 victory over Rayo Vallecano. On 9 January 2016, Bale scored his second hat-trick of the season in Madrid's 5–0 defeat of Deportivo La Coruña in Zinedine Zidane's first match as head coach of Los Blancos. After being sidelined since 19 January, due to a calf injury he sustained in a 5–1 league victory at home against Sporting Gijón, during which he had also scored the opening goal of the match, Bale returned to the pitch on 5 March; he made a substitute appearance in Real Madrid's 7–1 home win over Celta Vigo, scoring Real Madrid's final goal of the match.
On 20 March 2016, Bale scored his 43rd La Liga goal in a 4–0 defeat of Sevilla to surpass Gary Lineker as the highest scoring British player in the competition's history. On 23 April, Bale scored twice as Real Madrid came from 0–2 down to win 3–2 at Rayo Vallecano. Bale was a regular starter when the team won the 2015–16 Champions League. He assisted the team's only goal and went on to score in the penalty shoot-out win over Atlético Madrid in the final.
On 30 October 2016, Bale signed a new contract with Madrid until 2022. On 22 November 2016, Bale damaged his ankle tendons during the 2–1 victory at Sporting CP that would rule him out for up to four months. On 23 April, Bale made his 100th appearance in La Liga in a 3–2 home defeat to Barcelona, but was forced off after sustaining an injury.
Despite suffering several injuries during the season, he managed to feature 19 times for Madrid as they won their 33rd La Liga title. After missing more than a month, he returned to action for the 2017 Champions League Final in his hometown, Cardiff, which Real Madrid won 4–1 over Juventus; Bale made a late second-half substitute appearance, coming on for Benzema.
The 2017–18 season saw some improvement in Bale's goalscoring record across the league, cup competitions and in the Champions League. He featured in Real Madrid's victories in both the 2017 UEFA Super Cup and the 2017 Supercopa de España, and he also featured in the club's victorious 2017 FIFA Club World Cup campaign, winning a third trophy before 2018 had even begun. In La Liga, he made 26 appearances and scored 16 goals but Real Madrid were unable to reclaim the title, finishing in third.
The 2017–18 Champions League saw Bale scoring once prior to the final. This goal came from the match against Borussia Dortmund in the group stages, when he opened the scoring in a 3–1 victory in Germany. In the 2018 Champions League Final, Bale scored two goals, the first an overhead kick from the edge of the 18-yard box – regarded as one of the greatest goals in Champions League history – before a speculative 40-yard strike that went through the hands of goalkeeper Loris Karius, resulting in a 3–1 victory over Liverpool, to help Real Madrid win their thirteenth Champions League trophy. He became the first substitute to score twice in a Champions League final and was named man of the match.
Following the break-up of the BBC trifecta with Ronaldo's transfer to Juventus and the replacement of Zidane by new manager Julen Lopetegui, Bale was ever-present during August 2018 and was awarded Cinco Estrellas Mahou for the Real Madrid Player of the Month, scoring against Getafe and Girona along the way.
On 19 December 2018, Bale scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 win over Kashima Antlers in the semi-finals of the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup. He became the third player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA Club World Cup match after Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suárez. He also became the third player to score in three editions of the competition after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. He was awarded the Golden Ball after Real Madrid won the competition by beating Al Ain 4–1 in the final.
On 9 February 2019, Bale scored his 100th goal for Real Madrid after scoring the team's third goal as a substitute in a 3–1 away win over cross-city rivals Atlético Madrid; however, he was also the source of controversy in the media following the match, due to the "provocative" goal celebration that he made towards the opposition fans.
In July 2019, he was close to leaving the club, according to manager Zinedine Zidane, but later that month a proposed transfer to Chinese club Jiangsu Suning was called off by Real Madrid. In October 2019, Bale was said to be "angry" at Real Madrid and wanted to leave, but later that month Zidane said Bale had never asked to leave. Ex-Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón also said that Bale should return to Tottenham Hotspur. He made 16 appearances during the league season, as Real Madrid won the 2019–20 La Liga.
On 19 September 2020, Bale returned to Tottenham Hotspur on a season-long loan. He came off the bench to score the winner in Tottenham's 2–1 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion on 1 November, his first goal since returning to the club. On 3 December, Bale scored his 200th career goal in a 3–3 draw against LASK in the Europa League. He scored a brace and got an assist in a 4–0 win over Burnley on 28 February 2021. Bale once again scored twice in Tottenham's 4–1 victory against Crystal Palace on 7 March, bringing his tally to six goals in six games. On 2 May, Bale scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 win against Sheffield United. The hat-trick was only his second in the Premier League and his first since his return to Tottenham. On 23 May 2021, Bale came off the bench to score two goals against Leicester City in a 4–2 away victory which led Tottenham to a 7th-place finish, ensuring qualification to the Europa Conference League.
Bale returned to Real Madrid for the 2021–22 season. His appearances during the season were severely limited. Bale's agent, Jonathan Barnett, confirmed in May 2022 that Bale would leave Real Madrid at the end of the season. On 1 June, Bale himself published an open letter on Twitter confirming his exit.
