34-year-old 5th time Ballon d’Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, has admitted that his Barcelona superstar opponent, Lionel Messi has made him a better player in their years of professional rivalry in the soccer space.
Cr7, as he is fondly called, revealed this while he spoke with Portuguese Channel TV1. He noted that the healthy rivalry between him and the 32-year-old have made him a great player and he believes it is the same with Messi. “I have no doubt that Messi has made me a better player and vice-versa. When I am winning trophies it must sting him and it’s the same for me when he wins. I have an excellent professional relationship because we have been sharing the same moments for 15 years“, he said.
In addition, he opened up on his admiration for the co-5th time Ballon d’Or winner’s career and Messi’s disappointment when he left Real Madrid for Juventus. “I really admire the career he has had and from his side, he has already talked of the disappointment when I left Spain because it was a rivalry that he appreciated“, he added.
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Despite their healthy rivalry, however, the two soccer stars have not even for once socialised together, and Cristiano said he does not see any problem with it. “We’ve never had dinner together but I don’t see why we can’t in the future. I don’t see a problem with that“, he revealed.
