Inter Miami and Argentina skipper, Lionel Messi, has frankly admitted that Cristiano Ronaldo is neither a friend nor a foe, but will always treat each other with much respect.
The World Cup winner, who recently gave a glimpse of his relationship with his Portuguese rival in a chat with DSports, declared in clear terms that no friendship exists between them since they hardly spend time together.
Known for their myriad of individual titles, Messi has been crowned the winner of Ballon d’Or eight times, while Ronaldo followed closely with five, it is no surprise, therefore, that both men are often regarded as the GOAT, while supporters fervently argued their statistics as both players approach the end of their careers, with Ronaldo now 40 and Messi turning 38 next week.
Their paths briefly looked set to cross at the ongoing Club World Cup this month, with Messi leading MLS outfit Inter Miami’s cause for the coveted trophy, while Ronaldo plays for Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia.
‘The competition with him was on the pitch. Each of us wanted to do the best for our team. Obviously, as always, everything stayed on the field., ‘Off the pitch, we are two normal people.
We’re not friends obviously because we don’t spend time together, but we’ve always treated each other with a lot of respect.’ These thoughts echo his previous comments on the distance between them, Messi said.
Back in 2017, Messi told Marca: ‘I don’t know if we will be [friends]. Friendship is built through spending time together and getting to know each other.
‘We have no relationship, mainly because we only see each other at awards ceremonies, and that’s the only time we speak. ‘Everything is fine, but our lives don’t cross over very often.’
Meanwhile, in an interview with Spanish outlet El Chiringuito earlier this year, Ronaldo said he is on good terms with Messi because of their ‘healthy’ rivalry.,
‘I have a good relationship with Leo Messi, ‘ said Ronaldo. ‘I was translating him in English at an award ceremony too! It was funny., ‘It was a healthy rivalry, we got along,’ he said.
Ronaldo leads Messi in the scoring stakes, having netted 938 goals for club and country over his glittering career, in comparison to his rival’s tally of 866.
