Gareth Bale says he feels "more involved" in the Real Madrid side this season after shining in a 6-0 demolition of Espanyol.
The Wales international provided two assists for Cristiano Ronaldo and also won a penalty that was converted by the former Manchester United star - who scored five times in total to become Madrid's all-time top scorer in the league - as Madrid ran riot against the Catalan outfit.
Bale admitted to feeling "left out" in a trophyless second season at the club following a dream first campaign in the Spanish capital.
But now that he is playing in his preferred role behind the striker, Bale feels he is returning to the sensational form he showed in his first season at Madrid, in which he scored in the Copa del Rey and Champions League final victories.
"I feel like I am more involved this year now," Bale told Press Association Sport.
"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."
Bale, Ronaldo and Karim Benzema scored 99 goals in their first campaign together at Madrid, but were upstaged last term by Barcelona's front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, who netted 122 times as the club swept to a treble of the Primera Division, Copa del Rey and Champions League.
Bale scored twice in Madrid's 5-0 win over Real Betis a fortnight ago and now believes he and his two strike partners have regained their understanding, and is expecting big things from this campaign.
Madrid have taken seven points from their opening three games this season, with the blitz of Espanyol and the thrashing of Betis making up for a disappointing goalless draw at Sporting Gijon in the first game.
"We are working hard on the training ground and on the pitch and it's coming together. We just want to score as many goals as we can," Bale said.
"We have been focused since day one. It was not the greatest result from the first result but we have come back very strong with a 5-0 and a 6-0. We are feeling confident and looking strong.
"The most important thing was to keep winning. 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."
Bale also spoke of his excitement at taking Wales to the brink of Euro 2016 as he helped his country take four points in their games against Cyprus and Israel, and move ahead of England in the FIFA World Rankings.
"We have worked so hard over the last six to eight years for Wales and that shows in our ranking," he added.
"Over the last four years we have gone from 117th to the top 10. We have got a style of play and a plan in place and we are keeping to that out on the pitch."
Source: PA
