Bale rues a night of missed opportunities

Gareth Bale rued a host of missed chances as Real Madrid were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Juventus in the semi-finals.

The Wales international could have had a hat-trick on another night at the Santiago Bernabeu, but his finishing lacked accuracy much to the frustration of the home crowd.

A 3-2 aggregate defeat after Wednesday's 1-1 draw was tough to take for Bale, who was particularly disappointed to miss the target from a Marcelo cross at the back post in the second half.

"It was just not meant to be, but we'll go again next year," he told Sky Sports News.

"We always try to score as many goals as we can, but tonight it was just not meant to be.

"I was unlucky not to grab one, unfortunately it didn't go in tonight but you move on. I felt the back-post header [was my best chance] but I couldn't get over the ball which was disappointing."

Real's elimination means they only have one more chance to lift silverware this season - in La Liga - but they trail Barcelona by four points with two games remaining.

However difficult it may be, Bale insisted they will keep pushing and hope their rivals slip up.

He added: "It's obviously not what we wanted [to go out], but there's still a chance to win the league and we'll keep fighting until it's not mathematically possible.

"There have been a lot of ups and downs [for me] this season, I feel I have played well, I have not scored as many goals as I would like but my general play has been good.

"I will learn a lot from this season."