Cristiano Ronaldo has praised Lionel Messi for making him a better player, insisting he has a healthy rivalry with the Barcelona star and won't rule out having dinner with him in the future.
The two superstars have dominated the game for more than a decade with both having ten ballon d'Ors between them. They have also made the champions league their own with both currently the top two all-time top scorers in the competition.
The two also dominated Spanish La Liga prior to Ronaldo's move to Juventus. In all of Ronaldo's nine seasons at Real Madrid playing against Lionel Messi's Barcelona, only once did neither finish as the top scorer in the league.
Their rivalry is one of the most popular in the history of sports and is believed to be heated. However, Ronaldo has insisted it is a healthy rivalry.
“I really admire the career he has had so far and, for his part, he has already said that he had trouble when I left the Spanish league because it is a rivalry that he appreciates,” Ronaldo told Portuguese reporters which was monitored by Soccernet.ng
“It is a good rivalry that exists in football, but this is no exception. Michael Jordan had rivals in basketball, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were great rivals in Formula 1, the only common point between all the big rivalries in the sport is that they are healthy. “Messi makes me a better player and vice versa”
He even went ahead to say he won't have a problem having dinner with the Argentine international. “I have an excellent professional relationship with Messi because we have been sharing the same moments for 15 years,” he said. “I have never been to dinner with him but why not in the future? I would have no problem with doing that.”
