GARETH BALE has revealed how Cristiano Ronaldo would wave his arms in fury at him during their time together at Real Madrid.
The superstars spent five years together between 2013 and 2018 with the Spanish giants, winning FOUR Champions League titles.
Ronaldo, 41, turned himself into the ultimate goal machine in that period, netting a ludicrous 249 goals in just 239 games.
It was during a remarkable period where the Portuguese forward was battling Barcelona’s Lionel Messi to outdo each other in the scoring stakes.
But there were still plenty of moments, it appears, where CR7 would show his annoyance at Bale for failing to tee him up for another strike.
Asked by Jill Scott on The Overlap if Ronaldo was ever mad with Bale when he did not pass to him, the Wales icon replied: “Yeah, 100 per cent.
“I was just thinking about it, I’ve had a few arm flails when I’ve missed a one-on-one and I maybe could have passed to him!
“You also have to take that that is his drive and his motivation. He just wants to score, not just one, but he wants to score three, four, five, six a game, if he can.
“You know he’s chasing records and he wants to score this and he wants to beat Messi doing that, and it’s…
“You get it, and also you can’t argue (that) he’s scoring the goals.
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
“Even when he came back to Man Utd, people were like, ‘he’s not the same’, but he’s still scored the goals which is ultimately the hardest thing to do in football.
“He was just so driven. You know going into a game you knew pretty much that you had a 1-0 headstart knowing he’s going to score at some point, he was also a confidence-booster for the team.”
Ronaldo had already been ripping it up at Real for four years before Bale joined from Tottenham for a world record £86million in 2013.
The pair joined Karim Benzema to create one of the greatest attacking front threes of all time, which took on the mighty MSN of Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar at Barca.
Bale explained how Ronaldo developed from a tricky winger to a prolific scorer during his time at Madrid.
The ex-Southampton starlet said: “Watching him when playing against him in the Premier League and when I was a bit younger, he was definitely more of a flair player and a winger.
“As I came to Madrid, I felt like he had started that transition to becoming a goalscorer, where he realised, ‘If I get goals, I don’t have to do so much’. ‘I’m probably going to get even more plaudits and credit’.
“He was still doing the dribbling and stuff but as he got older, he just transitioned more into it.
“And I think just as I came, the first two or three seasons, he was still probably similar to the United Cristiano and then transitioned into that, ‘Right, I don’t need to come back so much, I can position myself better for counter-attacks’.
“How driven he was in training, in games, to just score goals, literally all he wanted to do was score goals, and ultimately that was why he set so many records.”
France star Benzema, who is still playing in Saudi Arabia now with Ronaldo, ended up with a fantastic haul of 354 goals in 648 games for Real.
Speaking of Benzema, Bale, who hung up his boots in 2023 and ended up with FIVE Champions League titles, added: “Generally we got on really well.
“We never had any issues in the dressing room.
“I got on really well with Karim, he was very quiet and was more with (Raphael) Varane who are the French boys. He would always keep himself to himself.
“But we never had one argument, we never had any falling out. We got along. We played well together, obviously.
“Me and Cristiano were down the wing, probably with a bit more flair. He was the one who was glueing it all together. He’s that focal point. It all seemed to work together really well.”
Real’s team at the time was a who’s who of football icons, including Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and more – as well as the godlike trio up top.
But for Bale, there was only one player who was the overwhelming leader in the dressing room.
He explained: “I’d say Ramos was by far the biggest leader. Cristiano had his ego and was a leader in his own right from what a player he is.
“But in terms of the leader of the team, it was clearly Ramos.”
Ronaldo is the type of player who is well aware of all his other-worldly goal statistics from across his career.
Yet when Gary Neville asked Bale about his own goal tallies during that period, the Wales centurion replied: “I can’t remember. I don’t know, really.
“I have no idea (what was the most I scored in one season). Maybe 25-30? Twenty-five, something like that?
“But assists (as well), because you gifted a lot to Cristiano! You could probably add another ten onto that, maybe, that you just pass across!”
