Gareth Bale felt "left out" last season at Real Madrid

Gareth Bale admits he felt "a little bit left out wide" at Real Madrid last season, but says he now feels more involved than ever after helping Rafa Benitez's side hammer Espanyol 6-0 on Saturday afternoon. 

The Welshman has started the campaign in a more central role and featured prominently at Cornella-El Prat, creating two goals for Cristiano Ronaldo — who ended the game with five — and winning a penalty.  

It followed on from an impressive performance before the international break, when he scored one and made another in Los Blancos's win over Real Betis. 

"I feel like I am more involved this year now," he said. "The first year you are running off adrenalin from having just signed — you are so happy to be at the club and that drives you on. 

"But in the second year I felt a little bit left out wide and not getting so much of the ball, but now I feel involved in the play and I think that is showing in the games that I am able to assist goals and score goals."

Karim Benzema scored the other goal against Espanyol to cap a good day for the BBC — Bale, Benzema, Cristiano — with Bale attributing their success to hard work. 

"We are working hard on the training ground and on the pitch and it’s coming together," he said of the trio's relationship. 

"We just want to score as many goals as we can. The most important thing [on Saturday] was to keep winning, though. 

"We knew there was going to be a big game between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid this weekend and that somebody was bound to drop points so we had to take advantage of that.

"We need to concentrate on ourselves and on every single game, that is the important thing. Every point matters in this league. If we concentrate on ourselves then hopefully we can take care of business."

Madrid are certainly taking care of business at the moment. They've now scored 11 goals since their goalless draw at Sporting Gijon during the opening week of the season — a result Bale insists was not down to a lack of focus. 

"It was a bit strange with the transfer window shutting so late, but we've been focused since day one," he added. 

"It was not the greatest result [at Sporting], but we have come back very strong with a 5-0 and a 6-0. We are feeling confident and looking strong."