Former Southampton forward Matt Le Tissier believes that Gareth Bale will struggle to match the level of Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo is widely regarded as the best player in the world on current form and has already scored 22 times in just 15 games this season.

Le Tissier has praised the quality of Bale, but does not think that the Welshman will ever reach the level set by Ronaldo.

"I don't think he'll ever be as good as Cristiano. He's a very good player but I think Ronaldo has been at the highest level for quite some time," Le Tissier told ElEnganche.es.

"If he does reach that level then it will be a surprise to me because I feel Ronaldo is a better footballer than Bale. That said, I never thought he would work so hard and I always believed he would play on the left because of his great pace.

"I knew he'd score goals from free-kicks but to see him working so hard and scoring the goals he does so regularly has been a surprise. It's not what I imagined when I saw him so young."

Bale joined Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur last summer.