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#1 Gareth Bale
From the day Gareth Bale became a Galactico, he was always overshadowed by Ronaldo. And now, post Ronaldo's departure; Bale will be on the spotlight to carry the team. The expectations will be high on Bale to lead the team in attack and to deliver the goals that win matches.
The one thing that differentiates Bale from the rest of Madrid's current roaster is that Bale has previously led a team as their primary goal-scorer. Bale is one of those players, who could single-handedly destroy the opposing defense. Ask Inter Milan, maybe.
His performance in the 2010 Champions League against Inter Milan, who were the defending Champions at that time, still remains as one of the finest Individual performances the competition has ever seen. His teammate, Rafael van der Vaart, went on to say "Everyone is scared of him [Bale]. Maicon is one of the best defenders in the world, and he's killed him."
That's the kind of Bale that Madrid would like to see next season.
More importantly, Bale is a natural goal-scorer. In La Liga, he has scored 70 goals in just 126 appearances and his overall tally stands at 88 goals in 189 appearances for Madrid. All these stats prove his goal-scoring prowess.
Bale, as we all know, started his career as a left-back. And his transition to a world-class winger has been nothing but spectacular. But, the transition hasn't restricted him in doing his defensive duties.
The ability to fall back, the scary pace that he possesses, the knack to score, etc has made him a complete package. All these set aside, Bale's biggest issue is his recurring injuries. And if Madrid are willing to stick with Bale, they should only pray that their key player is available all through the season.
What Bale needs to do more next season and what Ronaldo-less Madrid expect from Bale.
Bale was the main-main at Tottenham and he is still the main-man for his national team, Wales. When Benitez took over the reigns from Ancelotti, he tried to make Bale as the central figure; which didn't work. But now, Bale has a second chance to be the leading man at the biggest football club in the world and it is the time for him to step-up and take the challenge head-on.
