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Maradona had the self-belief, determination and sheer arrogance to keep on making the defenders look like fools.
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made a catastrophic error and record signing Eden Hazard suffered yet another injury as the defending champions suffered their third defeat in 10 matches.
Karim Benzema put Madrid ahead with a scorching strike from outside the area but Valencia replied with Soler's penalties and a bizarre own goal from Raphael Varane, inflicting a second defeat on Madrid this season.
Earlier, Madrid were knocked out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage by Ajax Amsterdam.
Madrid are stuck in third on 57 points, 13 behind La Liga leaders Barcelona and five behind city rivals Atletico Madrid.
Bale has won four Champions League titles since joining Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013 for a then world record 100 million euros.
The French legend clarified that it was the club who wanted to sell the Welsh forward, not him personally.
The victory means Zinedine Zidane's side move to the top of the table, for a few hours at least, before Barcelona play later on Saturday at home to Real Mallorca.
Bale has a long and successful record playing at Villarreal, scoring there on his Real debut in 2013 after completing his 100 million-euro move from Tottenham Hotspur and netting in a 3-2 win in 2017 and a 2-2 draw in 2018.
Zinedine Zidane's Real side demonstrated their new-found grit to re-take the lead four minutes later.
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