Cristiano Ronaldo discussed his ongoing rivalry with Lionel Messi on Friday.

Determining who is a greater player, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, has undoubtedly been the subject of the biggest football discussion in recent memory. Messi and Ronaldo made their debuts for Barcelona and Manchester United at the beginning of this century, and the debate peaked in 2009 when the Portuguese player moved his base of operations to Spain to join Real Madrid.

Both have won championships for their teams and individually, set several records, and established new benchmarks in world football. On Friday, Ronaldo discussed his ongoing rivalry with Messi and his real thoughts about the Argentine as a person and a player.

Following a shocking interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV earlier this week in which he severely criticized his current club Manchester United and the manager Erik ten Hag, Ronaldo made headlines earlier this week. He also responded to Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney, two of his former teammates, who had criticized him.

However, Ronaldo also covered other subjects from his career in the conversation, such as his rivalry with Messi.

The PSG star is someone the Portuguese said he greatly respects.

“Amazing player, he is magic, top,’ Ronaldo said. As a person, we share the stage 16 years, imagine, 16 years we share. So, I have great relationship with him. I’m not a friend of him in terms of, what I mean friend is the guy who was with you in your house, speaking on the phone, no, but it’s like a team-mate. He’s a guy that I really respect the way he always speaks about me. Even his wife or and my girlfriend, they always respect and they’re from Argentina. My girlfriend is from Argentina. So good. What I am going to say about Messi? A great guy who does great things for football.”

When asked if he was the finest player he had ever seen in his career Ronaldo said,  “Probably the best player I’ve ever seen (excluding myself). Maybe Zidane. That I play and fight with, yes.”

Messi is in his final season at PSG while Ronaldo’s future at Manchester United is uncertain as of now. Numerous rumors have circulated regarding their future, one of which linked them to a transfer to MLS team Inter Miami.

When asked about the two possibly playing together, Ronaldo joked that they would “sell a lot of shirts.”

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