Bale: I can be as good as Ronaldo & Messi

Gareth Bale believes he has what it takes to reach the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

The Real Madrid attacker came under heavy criticism last season for some underwhelming displays, while he has had a slow start to the current campaign, having scored just twice in eight games.

Messi and Ronaldo remain the pinnacle of the world game, as one of them has won the Ballon d'Or in each of the last seven years - with Messi collecting it four times and Ronaldo three.

However, the 26-year-old Wales international is confident that he can match his current Madrid team-mate as well as the Barcelona star in the coming years, though he maintains winning the Ballon d'Or is not a huge deal to him.

"I feel like I am capable of achieving that because I know my ability," he told the Daily Mirror.

“I wouldn’t say winning the Ballon d’Or is my aim or my goal because, for me, it isn’t really about individual awards. It is about winning the Champions League and La Liga – and when you do that, the other things come.

“When I won the PFA Player of the Year award at Spurs, I never thought at the start of the season that I wanted to win that trophy.

"It was just play, play, play, do as well as you can for the team, try to score goals and make assists, and whatever happens at the end of the season happens.

“The award is an obsession for some players. That might work for them, but I just want to score and create goals and win trophies.