The last thing you want to do when facing Cristiano Ronaldo is give him extra motivation.

One of the driving forces behind Ronaldo becoming one of the greatest players in history is, well, his driving force and an impeccable work ethic quickly makes up for any imperfections in his game.

It would be impossible to count all the stories of Ronaldo going above the call of duty in training and doing everything in his power to make sure he shines on the biggest stages.

So, it would be pretty unwise to poke the wasp's nest by winding up Ronaldo with provocative chants and that's exactly what some Serbian fans made the mistake of doing at the weekend.

In an attempt to intimidate the Portuguese on his trip to Belgrade, the home fans greeted almost every single touch of his with cries of “Messi, Messi!”  from the stands.

Serbia fans chanted 'Messi, Messi'

It was, of course, in reference to the never-ending Ronaldo vs Messi debate and the former doesn't take lightly to any suggestion that somebody else is the world's best footballer.

As a result, the heckling quickly backfired for the Serbian supporters and Ronaldo penned his name on the scoresheet after 80 minutes, pulling out his trademark 'Siiii!' celebration shortly after.

Portugal would go on to win the game 4-2 and it wasn't the first time, nor will it be the last, when crying 'Messi' from the stands has given Ronaldo that extra dose of motivation.

10 times Ronaldo silenced the chants

And that's something that can be corroborated by a viral video from just last year, documenting 10 times when Ronaldo has made supporters pay for referencing his rival from the terraces.

Compiled by the YouTuber 'CM Football Channel', the video has amassed over 1,000,000 views and was prompted by Ronaldo's performance at the 2018 World Cup against Morocco.

Take a wild stab in the dark as to what the Morocco fans were doing beforehand. You can check out the full video, complete with chants and spectacular strikes, down below:

They just never learn.

Perhaps it would actually be more off-putting for opposition fans to chant compliments at Ronaldo, but he's such a focused athlete that we're not sure anything would truly work.

Besides, some of the examples in the video came on big stages in the Champions League, La Liga and even a make-or-break World Cup play-off against Sweden.

And there can be little doubting that Ronaldo directly heard the chants on many occasions, going as far as gesturing at the crowd to quieten down after scoring against Ludogorets. 

So, if nothing else, let this video serve as a warning that chanting 'Messi' at Ronaldo seems to summon the footballing gods into drawing up their version of karma.