Gareth Bale may have been booed by Real Madrid fans

Just minutes later he failed to control a ball down the right and the hisses from his own fans were even louder. Bale did not stop trying, but a wayward shot and a missed header from close range will not redeem him his performance as Madrid failed to take chance to become the first team to retain the European Cup since it was renamed the Champions League in 1992.

But nor will it condemn him. The Santiago Bernabéu is the toughest stadium in European football to please and although Madrid’s faithful aired their frustrations at Bale here and have done so before, they have also booed Cristiano Ronaldo, Raúl and Alfredo di Stefano, their three all-time top scorers.

This most particular set of supporters further displayed their uniqueness by giving standing ovations to Andrea Pirlo and Álvaro Morata, their former youth academy graduate whose goals in either leg knocked them out, yet their attitude to Bale tonight does not mean his career in the Spanish capital is doomed. Far from it. He will not be made a scapegoat here, where his entire team under-performed.

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti may have turned heads and created headlines before the game when he told Tuesday’s press conference that Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett should "talk less”, but the Spanish media were far more interested in his thoughts on another Madrid player, Iker Casillas.

The veteran goalkeeper and captain, who grew up a Madrid fan and has won every trophy there is with the club, divides opinion far more than Bale and his inability to keep out Morata’s decisive equaliser will be debated far more in Spain than Bale’s performance. But nor will he get away lightly.

As well as his failure to repeat the highlights of last season in his second term, concerns remain about his inability to speak the language. Bale is believed to have stopped conversing with his team-mates in his usual broken Spanish, only speaking with his ex Tottenham team-mate Luka Modric.

The importance to Madrid supporters and opinion formers of a player showing at the very least a willingness to learn Spanish cannot be underestimated and is a reason why Steve McManaman is still remembered so fondly in these parts despite having just one good season, unlike Michael Owen.

There has never been any doubt among the Madrid hierarchy about Bale’s natural talent, physical attributes or professional attitude, unlike the universal concern, from directors, to coaches to supporters, about his tactical education and understanding of the game.

The El Pais journalist Diego Torres has reported that last autumn Ancelotti’s English assistant Paul Clement was charged with giving Bale extra coaching on running off the ball. The 25-year-old was a willing student but, upon seeing that his extra-coaching was not translating to better performances on the pitch, with Bale getting caught offside too often, the two coaches brought an abrupt halt to the sessions, instead telling the forward to continue to play with his instinct.

It is this instinct that saw him go close to giving Madrid the lead before Ronaldo scored from the spot, forcing Buffon to dive to the top corner to punch away an enterprising effort from 25 yards. That same instinct saw him race past Barcelona’s defence down the touchline to win the Copa del Rey last year, and head in Angel di Maria’s cross in Lisbon to put Madrid on their way to ‘La Décima’, the 10th European Cup they craved so much.

Yet a club of Madrid’s stature does not live in the past, and Bale still has a lot to do to prove his worth to Madrid in the long term, both on and off the pitch.

(telegraph.co.uk)