World Cup winner Lionel Messi has broken his silence on his relationship with long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo, confirming a bond of mutual respect and admiration, but not off-pitch friendship.
In a recent interview with , the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner addressed persistent public curiosity about his connection with the Portuguese star.
“I have a lot of respect and admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo and for the career he’s had and continues to have, because he’s still competing at the highest level,” Messi stated.
“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.”
Messi’s current remarks echo earlier sentiments from 2017, when he told Marca: “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.”
Cristiano Ronaldo has similarly characterized their rivalry as “healthy,” telling El Chiringuito earlier this year: “I have a good relationship with Leo Messi… It was a healthy rivalry, we got along.”
Both players have dominated global football for nearly two decades, amassing numerous trophies for both club and country and consistently pushing each other to achieve new heights.
Ronaldo currently leads the all-time scoring charts with 938 goals for club and country, while Messi has 866.
