Former Barcelona star Xavi Hernandez has said it times without number that Lionel Messi is the best player in the world, and Cristiano Ronaldo never worried about this personal opinion from a respectable footballer but not until the Spaniard directly stepped on his toes by making one “biased” comment about Messi-Ronaldo rivalry.
Image shows C. Ronaldo and Xavi Hernandez struggling for the ball in a match between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Xavi, who currently plays for Al Sadd in Qatar, told Spanish radio station La SER earlier this week that “despite his achievements, Ronaldo will never be a match for his former teammate Messi”, and opinion most football fans will kill for, including the Portuguese.
As expected, Ronaldo found it a bitter pill to swallow. He responded by reminding Xavi that he may have won trophies except a Ballon d’Or.
CR7 added that he’s the most popular player in the world at this moment, asking Xavi to conduct an internet search if in doubt. Good response, isn’t it?
Ronaldo, who has been off for about 2 months since the Euro 2016 finals, scored on his return to the pitch in a 5-2 win against Osasuna on Saturday. He scored within 5 minutes of play and was later subbed by coach Zinedine Zidane on the hour mark.
The 31-year-old said: “Something was released the other day online that said I am the most searched for player on the internet.
“When players, coaches want to appear on the front pages they talk about Cristiano Ronaldo, it is normal. What do I care what Xavi says.
“Xavi plays in Qatar, it doesn’t have any relevance. Xavi has won everything, the World Cup, European Championships…and he has never won the Ballon d’Or.”
After winning the 2016 European Championships as Portugal captain, and subsequently crowned the 2016 UEFA European Best Player, Ronaldo is looking forward to winning his 4th Ballon d’Or in January.
According to Fox Sports, Madrid are expected to announce a major contract extension for Ronaldo before the month is out with a one-year transfer ban looming over the European champions for the next two windows.
C. Ronaldo has therefore, asked the club’s president Florentino Perez to give him a ten-year contract extension in order to ensure he retires at Los Blancos.
In his words: “If I was the president of Real Madrid and I had a player like me, I would renew him for 10 years at least.
“Everything is on track. I am not worried and neither is the president.
“Right now I don’t see anything that can happen to prevent me ending my career at Real Madrid. As I said before, I want to be at this club for a long time because it is the biggest club in the world and it has to have the best players.”
The rivalry between players, clubs and fans will always be there although people claim to love sports. When nobody accepts being a loser, it’s no longer sports in its fairness.