Gareth Bale claim he has 'never had an argument' with Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid

The pair will line up together for this week's Champions League semi-final first leg against Manchester City

Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo (Getty)

Gareth Bale claims he has never had an argument with Cristiano Ronaldo, despite there being much speculation that the Real Madrid duo have a fractious relationship.

The pair are the biggest stars at the Spanish club - Bale broke Ronaldo's world record transfer fee when he joined from Tottenham in 2013.

Ronaldo has always been painted as being put out by Bale's arrival and the perceived challenge to his status as Real Madrid's most important player.

However, ahead of Real Madrid's visit to England to play Manchester City in the Champions League, Bale insists there is no animosity between them.

Bale said in an interview with The Times: "He (Ronaldo) speaks English which helped me when I first came here. We also have that link from the Premier League.

"We get on really well. The press make a lot of things that maybe we don't, but we get on fine.

"We've never had a problem. I've never had an argument with him. He's a very, very passionate person on the pitch - everyone knows that. He's very determined.

"People sometimes seem to take that the wrong way. We haven't had a problem."

Gareth Bale (Getty)

Bale and Ronaldo are both known for the quality of their free-kicks and Bale said they shared responsibility from set-pieces.

"It's on the board: free-kicks left side (are for) him, free-kicks right side (are for) me. Every game. So we know exactly what's what," he added.

Bale was instrumental in Real Madrid's 3-2 win over Rayo Vallecano at the weekend in the absence of Ronaldo, scoring two goals as Zinedine Zidane's side recovered from going 2-0 down. The result kept Real Madrid in the hunt to win La Liga title.

Ronaldo is expected to return to the starting line-up for Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg away to Manchester City.