Not Ronaldo, Gareth Bale directly names the 3 best players he ever played alongside

Gareth Bale overlooks Cristiano Ronaldo when selecting the "best training player," and also comments on the debate about speed between the two.

Former Real Madrid star Gareth Bale recently drew attention by revealing the most impressive training players he ever played alongside in his career. Notably, Cristiano Ronaldo (famous for his top-tier diligence and discipline in football) was not on this list.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Bale stated that the three names that impressed him most in training were Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, and Isco. According to the former Wales international, these are all players with exceptional ball control and the ability to maintain an extremely steady rhythm.

Bale said: "Modric or Kroos. They almost never lose the ball. They aren't the type of players who score many goals or are overly flashy. Isco was also excellent. He truly was a fantastic trainer. I would choose one of those three."

During his time at Real Madrid, Bale played alongside many of the world's top stars. He joined the Spanish Royal club in 2013 for a then-world record transfer fee and experienced a period of glittering success at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Wearing the Los Blancos shirt, Bale made 258 appearances, scoring 106 goals and providing 68 assists. With Real Madrid, he won every major trophy, most notably 5 Champions League

titles. Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo played together 157 times for Real Madrid, jointly contributing to 41 goals. Furthermore, the Welsh player also had a long spell playing alongside Luka Modric, as they were teammates at both Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid. In total, Bale played 301 matches alongside Modric, and the pair combined for 16 goals.

Bale also played 179 games with Toni Kroos and 168 games with Isco, directly contributing to 10 and 12 goals respectively.

Not only discussing his former teammates' training abilities, Bale also shared an interesting detail related to Cristiano Ronaldo: the debate over who was the faster player in the Real Madrid squad at that time.

On the Stick to Footballpodcast, Bale was asked whether he or Ronaldo was the faster player. The forward, born in 1989, replied: "Cristiano Ronaldo would definitely say otherwise, as he usually does. But I believe I was the fastest player in the Real Madrid team."

Both Bale and Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in blockbuster deals. Ronaldo moved to the Bernabeu from Manchester United in 2009 for a then-world record fee, before Bale broke this record when he left Tottenham for the Royal club in 2013.

These two stars, along with Karim Benzema, formed the famed "BBC" attacking trio, helping propel Real Madrid into one of the most successful eras in its history with a series of major titles.