New Bayern Munich boss Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale were desperate to seal bragging rights in the training-ground canteen at Real Madrid.
When Portugal and Wales collide in the semi-finals of the European Championship on Wednesday night, the tie will pitch two of the biggest stars in world football against one another.
But not only are they among the biggest names on the globe, both Bale and Ronaldo have spent the past three years slugging it out to be the big dog at Real Madrid.
And a man who has managed the pair of them together admits that they are so competitive that they always wanted to beat each other in training.
‘Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo have faced each other more times on the training ground at Valdebebas in Madrid than they can probably remember, and let me tell you even when the big names at the club are playing a game at the end of training, they want to win,” Ancelotti wrote on his column in the Telegragh.
‘Yes, I have seen these two boys sweating over an eight-a-side game many times during my two years at Madrid. All the great players are competitors.
‘They all want to come out on top even when the only thing at stake is to be able to walk into the training-ground canteen as the winner. So when it comes to the game in Lyon, just think what it will mean to these two lads to do it for their countries.’
The Italian also admits that he has seen an improvement in Bale since his departure from the Bernabeu hotseat last summer, and that he has become a leader for his national side.
‘I have seen Gareth change a lot in the last year. You can see he is much more confident. He is happy with his position at Real Madrid and he has had a good season.
‘With Wales, he likes to speak about his role and his responsibility with the team. I know how important it is to him that he does well for Wales, and with his national team he is learning what it is like to be a leader.’
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