Cristiano Ronaldo, the Juventus superstar has admitted that he admires the tough rivalry between himself and Lionel Messi claiming that the Argentine has pushed him to improve his game.
For more than ten years now, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been involved in serious rivalry most especially during when the Portuguese was playing for Real Madrid.
They have both won the Champions League and many other big titles with only the World Cup crown still missing in their trophy cabinets.
Fans of these two players are also always involved in rivalry as they do compare them together with pundits also not left out of the topic.
Lionel Messi has won six Ballon d’Or awards in his career so far, while Cristiano Ronaldo has been decorated five times with the same accolade.
While speaking with RMC Sport, Cristiano Ronaldo stated that he likes Lionel Messi because he was part of the reason his game improved so much.
“I really admire the career he has had so far. He has already said that he had trouble when I left the Spanish league because it is a rivalry that he appreciates. it is a good rivalry that exists in football, but this is no exception. Michael Jordan had rivals in basketball, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were great rivals in Formula One.The only common point between all the big rivalries in the sport is that they are healthy.” Ronaldo explained.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are currently training in their various houses waiting for the Leagues in Europe to resume.
As far as their respective seasons are concerned Ronaldo and Messi are performing fairly averagely by their lofty standards, with Messi only hitting the mark in the latter games prior to suspension of football in March.
Legendary managers including Arsene Wenger believe both Messi and Ronaldo are past their prime and fans might be looking at other fresh talents when it came to the debate on the best ever.