Real Madrid and Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has shaded
former Barcelona playmaker Xavi Hernandez after he made comments that
the former Manchester United forward was unlucky to be playing in the
same generation with present Ballon d’or recipient Lionel Messi.
Xavi said this in a chat with Spanish radio station Cadena Ser
earlier this week. He said: “Ronaldo is a player of his time. The
problem is that there is another who has been pretty much the best
player in history. Ronaldo is extraordinary but compared to Messi, for
me and for everyone who likes football, there are no comparisons.”
“Messi will be number one until he wants [to stop]. He’s superior to
everyone and is the best in the world, unless you are Real Madrid. Only a
fool could have played football and not recognize Cristiano is an elite
footballer. But he just has had bad luck to be around at the same time
as Leo,” Xavi said.
On Saturday evening, Ronaldo who scored on his Madrid comeback after
missing two months with a knee injury stunningly reacted to the former
Barcelona captain’s comments as follows: “The most searched for player
on the Internet is me. Those that want to appear on front covers [of
newspapers] or promote things speak about me.”
“What does it matter to me what Xavi says? He plays where? In Qatar
or [somewhere], I don’t know. He’s won everything but he’s never won a
Ballon d’Or. I have three,” he further stated.
He also claimed that if he were Florentino Perez, Real Madrid’s
president, he would issue himself with a new mega-deal as his current
deal is set to end in 2018. In his words, Ronaldo said: “If I were the
president of Real Madrid, I would give myself a 10-year contract. Right
now I’m not thinking about anything else in my career, all I want is to
retire at Real. This is the biggest club in the world and it should have
the best players.”
