Real Madrid stars face off at EURO 2016 Semi Final

The first Euro 2016 semi-final has an intriguing sub-plot as two of the greatest players in the world go head-to-head in a bid for international glory.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale may be team-mates at Real Madrid but when they pull on their national team's colours on Wednesday, they will be sworn enemies.

The match-up between Ronaldo and Bale is set to dominate the media ahead of the first semi-final, with Wales taking on Portugal in a bid to continue their amazing run at the finals.

Bale is widely considered to be Ronaldo's long-term replacement at Madrid and the pair are not believed to get on particularly well, with Ronaldo reportedly unhappy at having to share the spotlight with the world's most expensive footballer of all time.

But how will their rivalry affect the semi-final, and who will come out on top in this match?

Bale is 'not manufactured' - Coleman

So what are the key differences between Bale and Ronaldo, who reportedly never socialise together and are apparently not close at all away from the pitch?

According to Wales coach Chris Coleman, who has to come up with a plan to stop Ronaldo in Wednesday's semi-final in Lyon, Bale is "not manufactured", which could be considered to be a dig at the Portuguese star.

"They are obviously different types of people, different characters," said Coleman. 

"Whatever Bale brings to the table for us, that's him. He's not manufactured, he doesn't try to be something he's not. Gareth is just a nice guy, a family guy. He's livelier on the pitch than off it because he doesn't say a lot."

Coleman added that Bale is not using his football skills "to facilitate a superstar lifestyle", which again could be taken as criticism of Ronaldo's playboy lifestyle away from the sport.

Dead-ball skills

Set-pieces could hold the key to the semi-final, with the match likely to be a close one. Both Ronaldo and Bale are considered to be dead-ball experts, but Ronaldo has yet to score a free-kick at the finals, while Bale has already hit two.

According to Paul Clement, who coached the two players at Real Madrid, there are "similarities" between the two players, who have comparable technique when striking free-kicks.

"There are similarities because both are good with dead-balls, both are wingers who score an incredible amount of goals, and both are athletes, but I think Gareth plays between the lines more," Clement said ahead of the clash in Lyon. 

"He'll come inside and play combinations. He'll look to slide balls into other players."

The implication here is clear - Bale plays for the team, while Ronaldo plays more for himself.

Bale puts Wales first

Bale has made it clear that Wales come first for him, which has antagonised some of his colleagues at Real Madrid.

Back in October, Bale insisted on playing for Wales in a dead-rubber qualifier against Andorra, even though he had just missed four club games through injury and his team were through to the finals already.

With tensions running high between the club and the player, Bale then collected an injury in his first match back at Madrid.

By contrast, once Portugal had sealed their own qualification for Euro 2016, Ronaldo left his national team to return to Madrid.

That is just one of the key differences between Bale and Ronaldo, with their rivalry set to play out on the grandest stage imaginable on Wednesday, in the Euro 2016 semi-final.