Cristiano Ronaldo news: Gareth Bale hails Ronaldo as an incredible player; rubbishes reports of rifts between the two

What's the story?

Real Madrid attacker Gareth Bale has opened up about his relationship with former Los Blancos superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, claiming that it was a great one.

Bale said that he and the Portuguese talisman never had any problems at the Spanish club and further clarified that any reports of a rift between the duo have been hyped up by the media.

In case you didn't know...

Bale started his career as a left-back, but was shifted to a more attacking position at Tottenham Hotspur.

He moved to Real Madrid in the 2013 summer transfer window in a then world-record transfer fee of £85.3 million, which eclipsed Ronaldo's transfer fee of £80 million paid out to Manchester United.

Bale and Ronaldo helped Madrid become the first team to win the UEFA Champions League three times in a row, with the Welshman scoring a brace in last season's final and the five-time Ballon d'Or winner scoring twice in the 2017 final against his current club Juventus.

The heart of the matter

Real Madrid had two of the best forwards in the world in Ronaldo and Bale playing for them, but while the 34-year-old Ronaldo shone throughout their spell together, Bale's performances were often inconsistent and overshadowed by his prolific teammate.

Spanish media reported on numerous occasions about an ongoing rift between the duo, but Bale denied all the rumors and claimed that he enjoyed the star's company in the Spanish capital.

He said on BT Sport's What I Wore: (Via Dailymail)

“Cristiano is an incredible player, I thoroughly enjoyed playing with him. Obviously the media try and hype up these problems which were never there. We got on really well."

He finally praised Ronaldo for still being at the top of his game and said he'll always remember his exploits in front of goal.

“He's an incredible player and what he did for the club with the amount of goals he scored. An incredible player and he is still going now.”

What's next?

In the absence of Ronaldo, Real Madrid have been eliminated from the Champions League and it remains to be seen whether the return of Zinedine Zidane will help the club end the season on a high note.