Gareth Bale has revealed Jurgen Klopp's hilarious comments after his overhead kick helped Real Madrid beat Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final.
The former Los Blancos star won five European Cups during an eventful nine-year stay in the Spanish capital, with his most telling contribution coming against the Reds in Kyiv.
Bale had been out of favour for much of the campaign but came off the bench to score a stunning overhead kick to put his side 2-1 up, before his almost equally iconic second goal - which came courtesy of a cataphoric error by Reds goalkeeper Loris Karius.
Speaking ahead of Saturday night's Champions League final between his old club and Borussia Dortmund at Wembley, Bale revealed that his first strike that night was his favourite moment in football.
And he opened up on the subsequent reaction by Klopp, who had seen his side's hopes of victory dashed by the extraordinary effort.
'There have been a lot of bad things said to me on the pitch,' the 34-year-old joked. 'But Jurgen Klopp said to me after the game "Why did you do that?" or something along those lines when I scored the overhead kick.'
Six years after claiming their 13th European Cup, Madrid have the chance to further extend their record to 15 at Wembley on Saturday.
Carlo Ancelotti's side are the overwhelming favourites to lift the trophy after booking their place in the final with aggregate wins over Manchester City and Bayern Munich in the previous rounds.
The Italian boss has the opportunity to extend his own record in the competition and take his personal tally to five - two clear of any other manager.
'There are two reasons to be excited,’ the former AC Milan and Everton boss said on Friday. 'The special feeling is that it is always good to play these kind of games, the most important game of the season. And to play here, at Wembley, in a really historical stadium, will be exciting too.
‘I am happy to be here and I hope that our team can show its best.’
Dortmund will be featuring in their first final it was last held at Wembley in 2013. On that occasion, Jurgen Klopp's side suffered a 2-1 defeat by the bitter rivals Bayern.
Edin Terzic will be hopeful of better luck as he comes up against the Spanish giants.
Manchesterisblue
193
Prime bale will never be forgotten, best left footed player behind messi in this era.