Cristiano Ronaldo v Lionel Messi – it’s the gift that keeps on giving and the debate that will, seemingly, never be solved.
After all, we live in an era of the sport where its finest two players are battling it out at the two biggest clubs and at the peak of their powers. Therefore, there’s no surprise that there’s something of a rivalry between the two juggernauts.
In 2015 though, Messi firmly had the upper hand and even had a Champions League title to boast about. Nevertheless, Ronaldo wasn’t shy about digging into the Argentine when it came to public appearances and then some.
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2015 performances
Cast your mind back two years and Messi was firmly in his element.
Ronaldo may have started the year by collecting his Ballon d’Or for 2014, but his rival was keen to amend the record books. As a result, the Argentine embarked on one of the greatest calendar years of his entire career.
The 29-year-old scored 99 goals across the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons and propelled Barcelona to a historic treble.
While the crowning moment in the Champions League final did not feature a Messi strike, it saw the forward instigate a brilliant 3-1 over Juventus. It proved no less than his fourth title in the star-studded competition.
The only blot on his copybook came in the form of the Copa America with Argentina narrowly missing out on penalties to Chile. After Portugal’s World Cup performance the previous year though, it was far from a catastrophe.
Therefore, it was no real surprise that Messi recovered his Ballon d’Or title in 2015 after two years playing second fiddle.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo was focusing on something really quite different – a movie. A 17% rating on Rotten Tomatoes cannot have proven enough to console the passionate Portuguese, however.
Jonathan Ross cameo
One thing the movie did bring for the 29-year-old, not that he needed anymore, was publicity. One stop on his tour of promotion proved the Jonathan Ross Show and yes you did read that right.
Naturally, the conversation progressed to Ronaldo the movie and the Real Madrid striker articulated his surprise at the project emerging. Cue Ross begging the question of why they didn’t make it about Messi.
His guest’s answer to the question was just perfect. The video can be seen below:
In Layman’s terms, Ronaldo believes he was approached for a movie because he was the best player in the world at the time. It was maybe a good job the comment was so jovial because the Ballon d’Or vote begged to differ.
Nevertheless, it left both Ross and the live studio crowd in stitches so it was certainly worth the effort.
The Ronaldo-Messi rivalry has never been seen to spill over, but this is the closest we’ve seen as far as banter and comparison goes.
Regardless of what either player says though, the debate proves so tight that it will always be in the hands of subjectivity and individual opinion. Sorry Cristiano, but that snappy comment hasn’t swung things.
His capture of the 2016 Ballon d’Or, however, suggests it did in fact work in the long-term.
Who do you think is the best player in the world - Ronaldo or Messi? Have YOUR say in the comment box below