Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas says his star players are revelling in the spotlight vacated by Real Madrid attacker Gareth Bale.

Spurs are top of the table with Arsenal after the Bale sale.

Villas-Boas said: "With the departure of Gareth, players take on more responsibilities. They know that if they are good, we will talk more of them, so they have good reason to shine. We score a lot of goals, players who enter are good, we play more as a team.

"Gareth has the potential to have the same influence [as Ronaldo] but it depends on how he adapts. At Real, he will not be the big star, like he was here.

"Ronaldo performed for four years at Manchester United before leaving, while Gareth has only had one [very good] season."