Both Messi and Ronaldo have admitted their mutual respect while acknowledging that the professional rivalry has made them better football players.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated football for the majority of the past two decades. Both Ronaldo and Messi have scored a bucketload of goals en route to becoming the top two footballers in the world. Such has been their level of output that even in the annual awards Messi and Ronaldo have shared the honours in 10 of the past 11 years. Fans of both the players are continuously debating on who is the better football player out of the two.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.(AP)

Both Messi and Ronaldo have admitted their mutual respect while acknowledging that the professional rivalry has made them better football players.
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There was another evidence of the same when Messi was interviewed by Mundo Deportivo, where the little magician lavished praise on the Portuguese superstar.

“It’s normal that he continues to score, he is a predatory striker, he loves to score, any day he plays he will score,” Messi told Mundo Deportivo when asked about Ronaldo’s recent performances.

“He has many good attributes as a forward and at the minimum, he converts.”

35-year-old Ronaldo has been in great form recently as he has scored in 11 straight games for Juventus. He already has 24 goals against his name this campaign. Meanwhile, Messi has struck 14 times across just 19 La Liga games this season for Barcelona.

Messi also talked about the possibility of playing together with Ronaldo. Messi maintained that he would pass the ball to Ronaldo if they played together.

“If we played together I think I would pass the ball to him, yes … Real without Ronaldo has lost many goals, but it was obvious it would happened. Not only goals, but Cristiano also brings many other things. If a team loses a player who scored 50 goals per season, it’s noticeable. Real Madrid has great players, but Cristiano scores 50 goals per season,” Messi added.

Ronaldo said ahead of the Champions League draw last August: “We have shared the stage 15 years. I don’t know if that’s happened before — the same two guys on the same stage all the time.

“Of course, we have a good relationship. We haven’t had dinner together yet, but I hope in the future.

“We had that battle in Spain. I pushed him and he pushed me as well. So it’s good to be part of the history of football.”