Cristiano Ronaldo Injury Allows Gareth Bale to Emerge from Madrid Star's Shadow

As confirmed by Real Madrid's official website earlier this week, Cristiano Ronaldo has picked up a hamstring injury and is out of the Spanish giants' Champions League clash with Galatasaray on Wednesday.

It is currently unknown as to how severe the Portuguese international's injury is, but the initial reaction for all Madrid fans will be one of panic over the absence of their team's best player.

Carlo Ancelotti provided an update on Ronaldo's injury on Tuesday, per talkSPORT's Nik Postinger, telling that his talismanic attacker would indeed miss this Wednesday's fixture: 

However, the absence of one giant star will allow another mega-money asset to shine in his place; this will be the first opportunity for Gareth Bale to be Real's beacon this season.

Ronaldo has been an ever-present force for Ancelotti's side so far, his injury against Almeria being the first time he's missed minutes of a La Liga outing throughout the campaign.

ESPN suggests the attacker could be out until mid-December, although Ancelotti seemed less concerned:

Bale has also been prominent since returning from injury and has started the club's last five matches across all competitions.

Settling further and more comfortably into his new-found Bernabeu roots, the Welshman has gone from strength to strength at Real, scoring four goals and making five assists in his last five games, per Transfermarkt.co.uk.

Quite simply, when fully fit and given the ideal foundation on which to shine, Bale has obliged with dazzling quality to date. However, for every goal he has scored, Ronaldo has always gone one, two or even three better, dominating the headlines along the way.

Against Sevilla, the 24-year-old notched two goals and two assists; Ronaldo claimed a hat-trick. Against Rayo Vallecano, Bale claimed two assists, but it was Ronaldo converting those chances.

Another three points from their European outing against Galatasaray would help Los Merengues sew up their spot at the top of Group B and guarantee a priority placement in the Round of 16.

While not the closest of matchups with Gala, who were beaten 6-1 by Madrid earlier this season, the fixture is nonetheless an important one and should create the perfect amount of pressure—combined with the freedom of knowing defeat isn't a disaster—for Bale to succeed.

Not since moving from Tottenham has the £85 million man been looked upon as "the man," the creative force around whom all things revolve. This week will be Bale's first chance to experience that in his Spanish surroundings.

With Ronaldo now out of the picture, however temporarily it may be, Bale has been provided with the opening to make a statement that reads "there's more than one titan in this team."

The pair have of course been very careful in assuring onlookers that they hold a good relationship and that any competition is of the friendly variety.

However, Bale is currently not talked about in Ballon d'Or debates. He is not regarded as one of the top five players in the world. Make no mistake—the Welshman moved to Madrid to achieve such status.

Competition within a squad is healthy and, if Bale can show his manager there's another star talent in the team, he merely provides Ancelotti with a conundrum that any coach would be envious of.

He would also prove Madrid are more than a one-man team—the very tag he often inspired while at Tottenham.