Bale and the 4-3 win in 2010: Inter podcast revisits that night

A win for the European champions, but also a night remembered for an opposition player. The 20 October episode of Internazionale Morning Club, entitled “Gareth – The Birth”, looks back at Inter’s victory over Tottenham on 20 October 2010: a 4-3 win built on a first-half lead, with Gareth Bale’s three goals only putting the result in doubt late on.

Inter had drawn away to Twente and beaten Werder Bremen 4-0, courtesy of a Samuel Eto’o hat-trick and a goal from Sneijder. Against the English side, Zanetti needed just two minutes to open the scoring. Gomes’ foul on Biabiany then saw the goalkeeper sent off and Eto’o convert the resulting penalty. Stankovic scored the third from outside the box before the Cameroonian added his second to make it 4-0.

With a man advantage, Inter went close again through Maicon and Coutinho. After the break, however, Bale changed the story of the match: he set off from his own half, beat Zanetti and Maicon and fired a low left-footed shot past Julio Cesar. The lead remained comfortable until the 90th minute, when the Welshman scored twice more in quick succession. All three shots found the same corner, but could not deny Inter victory.

The podcast picks out that evening as a defining moment in Bale’s rise, when he was still a left-back who also played further forward. His subsequent career would take him into a permanent attacking role and bring him five Champions League titles with Real Madrid. The account also recalls his return to Tottenham, his final spell in Los Angeles and his retirement at 33.

The meeting with Spurs had a sequel as early as 2 November 2010: Tottenham won the return fixture 3-1, with Bale setting up two of the English side’s goals. Another chapter in that European duel, helping to explain why memories of the 4-3 at San Siro encompass both Inter’s victory and their opponent’s performance.