Well this isn’t going to help stop any rumor mills.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale have been painted as rival teammates who don’t get along ever since Bale arrived at Madrid in the summer of 2013.
It makes sense, considering they are superstars in a team defined by its image that has been shaped around Ronaldo for the past 5 years. Gareth Bale is younger than Ronaldo, incredibly talented, and a British star. All of which make Bale a threat to knock Ronaldo off his perch as the alpha of Madrid.
Whether or not Ronaldo truly feels threatened by Bale, or vic versa, is unknown. The two have only said nice, professional things about each other to the media. With the release of the Ballon d’Or vote, however, we certainly do know one thing: Ronaldo doesn’t think quite as highly of Bale’s talents as the rest of the world does.
Ronaldo picked Bale 3rd behind fellow teammates Karim Benzema and James Rodriguez in his vote for the Ballon d’Or.
Many would say that Bale is comfortably better than Benzema, and while it is hard to compare midfielders and forwards, I personally feel that Bale is better than Rodriguez. Although I will admit that Rodriguez has done something that Bale never has: carry his team to the quarter finals of the World Cup.
Clearly, Ronaldo values Rodiguez’ contributions to the team more. As for him ranking Benzema higher than Bale, Benzema has assisted Ronaldo more than any other player in Ronaldo’s career.
Take note, Bale. If you want to get in Ronaldo’s good graces, get him the ball.
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