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Casemiro spent four seasons alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid, claiming the Champions League title in each of them. He regards the Portuguese superstar as the finest player in the world, from "another world." Yet within that iconic Real Madrid squad, there was someone he considered more well-rounded: Gareth Bale.
Bale—along with Karim Benzema—frequently found himself overshadowed by Ronaldo. Nevertheless, Bale, despite battling injuries and a turbulent relationship with the Spanish press, proved instrumental in the club's unprecedented European dominance. The Welsh forward delivered when it mattered most, netting crucial goals in two Champions League finals—2014 and 2018—and contributed more broadly to the team's success.
"Cristiano scores 50 goals, but Bale is attack, defend, head, score," Casemiro said enthusiastically during an appearance on Rio Ferdinand Presents.
"Cristiano is the best, another world. But Bale is more complete. Everything, he does very good. Very quick, too strong. For me, Bale is an unbelievable player."
Bale wasn't the only former teammate to receive high praise from the Brazilian midfielder.
The Trait Which Separates Bruno Fernandes From the Rest of the Premier League
Manchester United's outgoing midfielder expressed his frustration with modern footballers he believes are guilty of "negative passing" simply to protect their stats. The polar opposite of that mentality is precisely why he cherishes playing alongside Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes has been in a class of his own among creative players in the Premier League this season. The United skipper has crafted an unmatched 124 chances and 30 'big chances' with just two matches of the 2025–26 campaign remaining. The next closest is 67 chances created by Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai, and 18 big chances created by Manchester City's Rayan Cherki.
Fernandes's passing accuracy in the Premier League this season stands at 82.1%, meaning he misplaces the ball roughly 18 times per 100 attempted passes. In contrast, Szoboszlai's accuracy is 87.7%, while Bernardo Silva registers above 90%.
Casemiro sees the risk of losing possession as a worthwhile trade-off.
"He's playing the game three or four steps quicker than everybody else."@LyesBouzidi10 believes Bruno Fernandes is playing the best football of his Manchester United career and deserves to be spoken about as one of the best. pic.twitter.com/AGsqfjzPgT
"You finish the game and [a player] has [completed] 97% of passes. But what's the pass? Pass back, pass back, pass back. Negative passing," he said.
"You need to play forward. It doesn't matter if you lose the ball. Of course, sometimes you need to play good [by keeping the ball]. But what I love about Bruno is he plays forward every time. Every time, he kills the opposing team: 'You give me space, I kill you.'
"I love Bruno's game because of this, assist, pass, pass, every time pass it forward."
Fernandes is just one assist away from equaling the Premier League's single-season record. He currently sits on 19 and needs one more to match the mark set by Thierry Henry in 2002–03 and later equaled by Kevin De Bruyne in 2019–20.
His pursuit of the record has hit a few stumbling blocks in recent outings, with a potential 20th assist ruled out during the victory over Liverpool after goalkeeper Freddie Woodman got a touch on the ball before it reached scorer Benjamin Šeško. United then failed to score against Sunderland in their most recent fixture. Games against Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion are still to come.