Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale claims teams that participate in the Champions League want to ‘play football’ after he played a part in his team overcoming Roma 2-0 away from home.

His suggestion can be interpreted as a thinly veiled criticism of some of the teams in La Liga that prefer to sit back with no real intention of scoring.

“It’s a different competition than the league,” he said to Real Madrid TV.

“It’s played differently against teams that want to play football, it’s natural, it’s hard to explain.”

The Welsh wizard has been the recipient of a harsh criticism this season after a poor run of form, but he found solace after he opened the scoring against Roma on Wednesday.

“We succeeded but we have to improve,” he continued.

“We must continue to win games, we have a new coach and we have to give ourselves time.”

The winger wants to build on the result against the Italians.

“It was a difficult start, but we have to keep growing, we have to follow the line of the second half against Roma,” he added.

“The first half wasn’t so good, we knew that by fighting and playing well we were going to have opportunities, and we are improving little by little.”

Los Blancos host Valencia on Saturday as they look to get their league campaign back on track.