For years, Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos were on the opposite ends of the biggest rivalry in all of football: El Clasico, Barcelona and Real Madrid. The two were involved in many a memorable battle over the years, even captaining their respective teams for years. Now though, they find themselves sharing a locker room at Paris Saint-Germain.
After a difficult first year in Paris, both seem to have rediscovered their form. Ramos is playing regularly in the heart of defence once again, while Messi looks back at his mesmerizing best, both scoring and assisting at an incredible rate.
For football fans, it is certainly a weird sight to see Messi and Ramos on the same team, after them being rivals for so long. There seems to be nothing but respect between the two though.
In fact, Ramos has even gone on to admit that he suffered against Messi for many years and prefers to have the Argentine on his team, instead of playing against him. As reported by Marca, the former Real Madrid captain said:
"“[Messi] is still one of the most decisive players in the world and one of the best, it is a privilege to have him in the team.“It is much worse to have him against you, I suffered against him for many years.”"
Former Real Madrid captain makes Messi admission
It goes without saying that Messi is one of the best in the history of the game. For a while last season, it had looked like he was on the downturn and fading away as a player. That did not turn out to be the case though and now, he is playing brilliantly once again, despite having to share the pitch with Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, who take more attacking positions than him.
It is great to see that him and Ramos have gotten along at PSG. They are two of the best in the history of the game and deserve all the respect in the world.
Of course, club allegiances will take a side step, when the World Cup begins in Qatar later this month.
Messi will be hoping to lead Argentina to World Cup glory while Ramos is holding onto hopes that he will be included in Luis Enrique’s Spain squad.