5 reasons why Gareth Bale will never win the Ballon d'Or

#2 - Footballing abilities

Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid CF - Copa del Rey: Semi Final - Second Leg

While it is completely true that Gareth Bale has been one of the world's finest players in the past few years, he has never really been in contention to be the best in the world. The Welsh is very good, but just not good enough. His game has many flaws, as he struggles to deal with close marking and tight spaces.

Bale typically needs lots of spaces to exploit, and ideally a counter-attacking system to show his best football. He excels with his burst of pace, long shots, heading abilities inside the penalty box, and of course free kicks.

But he is neither as good at dribbling as Lionel Messi, Neymar and Eden Hazard, nor as clinical of a finisher as Cristiano Ronaldo or Luis Suarez.