Bale ready to step up and fill the void left by Ronaldo’s departure from Bernabeu

So far, Real have not resorted toa galacticos spending spree to bring in marquee names at astronomical prices. Coach Julen Lopetegui seems to be relying on the talent already at his disposal.

The club, though, have made a few significant purchases, including goalkeeper Thibault Courtois from Chelsea.

Ronaldo’s move to Juventus for €112 million (£0.89m) and Zidane’s resignation have given new impetus to Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio to step up and fill the void left by the Portuguese striker, who scored 450 goals in 438 matches for the club.

Bale, who came on as a substitute and scored two goals in their 3-1 win over Liverpool in the Champions League final in May, has more to prove than anyone in the team. He had a rocky relationship with Zidane and spent much of his time on the bench last season.

But Bale has impressed in pre-season and he will look to prove to Lopetegui that he’s not only a Ronaldo understudy.

Lopetegui, who is prone to shaking things up, may also look to give key roles to a core of Spanish players such as Asensio, Isco, Marcos Llorente anddaniceballos.hemayalso turn to new signing Alvaro Odriozola, who is competing with Dani Carvajal to become first-choice right-back.

While Atletico have has failed against Real on Europe’s biggest stages in recent times, losing Champions League finals in 2014 and 2016, and a semi-final in 2017, coach Diego Simeone believes that could all change this year. The club have brought in new players such as

0 Gareth Bale: Proving mission.

attacking midfielder Thomas Lemar from Monaco, while holding on to key men including World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann, who signed a new contract despite interest from other teams.

“The players want to come and the youngsters don’t want to leave,” Simeone said in Tallinn yesterday, pointing to Saul Niguez, Jorge “Koke” Resurreccion, Lucas Hernandez, Thomas Partey and Jose Gimenez as examples.

The Argentine coach declined to answer a question about what Ronaldo’s departure means for Madrid, but Koke said it would still be tough match.

“Cristiano is a great player,” he said. “He’s always demonstrated that, but Real Madrid have a great squad. With or without Cristiano, it was always going to be a complicated match.”