Bale's Spurs team-mate Brad Friedel said his swerving shots are a nightmare for goalkeepers because his ball-striking style sees the ball dip and bend unpredictably.
Friedel, who watched Bale nail two similar free kicks in the Europa League, explained: “I see him every day and he’s one of the best I’ve played with. He has a technique only a few players in the world have - it’s when you can strike with an open foot and you sort of come over the ball.
“A lot of times there’s no spin on the ball, and as a goalkeeper you can’t tell where it’s going to go, and it moves in the air. It’s very difficult. Pepe Reina had all sorts of trouble here when we played Liverpool.
“If there’s no spin on the ball and then in mid-flight it goes the opposite way, there’s no way to train your eye to deal with that. You just have to try to react the best you can.”
Full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto acknowledge that Bale “is on fire at the moment” before adding: “You can’t become one of the best players in the world in one season. He does good stuff but the best players in the world do this stuff every season so if he does it for one, two, three seasons then, yes, we can start to think he is one of the best.”
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