When asked to rank his top five offensive players, Gareth Bale had to make a difficult decision between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
After playing for Wales in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Bale hung up his boots last year.
An amazing career that included stints with Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, and most recently Los Angeles FC came to an end as a result.
In the summer of 2013, the 35-year-old transferred to Real Madrid for a then-record-breaking transfer fee of about £86 million.
Bale scored 106 goals in 258 appearances while in Spain, winning three La Liga titles and five Champions League crowns.
After having his greatest season with Spurs in 2012–13, where he scored 26 goals in 44 appearances, Bale transferred to Real.
Bale teamed up with Ronaldo at Los Blancos, and after the Portuguese player left Manchester United in 2009 for a reported £80 million, Bale overthrew the Portuguese as the most expensive player in history.
Bale also faced Messi and Barcelona every season while he was a player for Real Madrid, as both teams fought for dominance in both Spain and Europe.
Many people consider Messi and Ronaldo to be the two greatest football players of all time.
While Ronaldo scored 450 goals in 438 games for Real Madrid, Messi scored 672 goals in 778 games for Barcelona.
In a recent YouTube video with Futcrunch, the now-retired Bale ranked his top five attackers in the viral blind ranking challenge. Ultimately, he had to choose between Ronaldo and Messi.
He finished in fifth place, ahead of former Spurs teammate Harry Kane, who Bale played alongside when he returned to the North London club for the 2020–21 season on loan. The England captain is currently playing for German powerhouse Bayern Munich.
Third-place pick by Bale was Real Madrid striker Ronaldo, a former Brazil international who joined David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, Roberto Carlos, and Luis Figo at Los Blancos during their original Galactico era.
When it came down to make the crucial choice, Bale decided to rank Messi second and his former comrade Ronaldo first as the starting forward.
Considering that he had many seasons of success and shared a dressing room with the Portuguese, it is maybe not surprising to learn where the former Wales international’s allegiances lie.
