Argentine superstar plays down Ronaldo rivalry…
Barcelona’s 26-year-old World Player of the Year has poured cold water on talk of an individual rivalry between him and Real Madrid’s Portuguese flyer Cristiano Ronaldo, reports Goal.
Messi and Ronaldo are unarguably the two best players in world football, and have scored a ludicrous amount of goals for their respective La Liga clubs in recent seasons. Ronaldo has bagged 201 in 199 matches for Los Blancos, while Messi has scored 133 times in the past two years!
Unfortunately for Ronaldo, in any other generation he would be considered the world’s best, but playing in the same league as Messi, the Portuguese winger often misses out on individual accolades.
Messi though, is adamant that there is no rivalry between the pair…
“There is no rivalry with Ronaldo at all,” said the 26-year-old, who has won the Ballon D’or for a remarkable four consecutive seasons.
“He’s a good person and can change any game. He does his thing and I’m just focused on succeeding with Barcelona.”
Lionel Messi will be expecting to start in the opening match of Bracelona’s title defence on Sunday evening at home to Levante. It will be interesting to see how new boss Gerardo Martino utilises the world’s best player, who has shone in a ‘false nine’ role for nearly 18 months.
Ronaldo begins his La Liga campaign at home to Betis, and will similarly be hoping to get off to a quick start under new Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti.
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