Bale's remarkable form of late and long range goals have been reminiscent of an in form Ronaldo at times.

"I think anybody would love to be mentioned alongside the best in the world," Bale told Sport magazine. "It's flattering but I don't really look too much into it. I don't get the newspapers or read too many reports, so I don't really know how much hype there is. My friends tell me things but I just treat every day as normal and focus on my job.

"I don't model my game on Ronaldo's. I have my own way of playing and it's not exactly the same but we do have similar attributes. I just like watching the best players: seeing Messi and Ronaldo. I've watched Ronaldo in the past and you do take things from other people's games to try to improve as a player."