It is often debated amongst soccer fans as to who is better between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Now, a Real Madrid legend, Ángel Di María, has weighed in on the debate by claiming Ronaldo is inferior.
Di Maria was quoted on A Bola, saying (translated from Portuguese), "For me, Leo is better than Cristiano because he has a natural talent. He doesn't need to constantly strive to equal or surpass someone."
Di María played with Ronaldo at Real Madrid, whilst with Messi for Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain. Therefore, he would know better than most about each of their talents. He has mixed loyalties, but has gone with his countryman.
With Ronaldo, Di María played 166 times, where they had a joint goal participation of 28. Whilst with Messi, Di María featured in 141 games, and they combined for 16 goals.
Di María excelled alongside Ronaldo at Los Blancos, but a move to Manchester United in 2014 did not work out for the Argentine. He then rebuilt his reputation at PSG, where Messi later joined him. Di María went on to play for Juventus and had a second stint with Benfica before returning to Rosario Central.
Ángel Di María makes a strong argument
Messi does appear to have a natural gift for dribbling and scoring goals. He is not built like Ronaldo, who has worked hard on his physique just as much as he has on his game.
Apart from tweaking his diet, Messi has not had to change much of his game throughout his career. Although now, when you watch him, he does walk around a lot before bursting into life with sublime skill to score or set up a goal.
Ronaldo was a flying winger who often performed unnecessary tricks when he was a young player at Sporting CP and Manchester United. The showboating soon went, and he became arguably the best in the world when he was with United and then Real Madrid.
During the period when Ronaldo was with Los Blancos and Messi was at Barcelona, were the peak years in their rivalry. With Messi now with Inter Miami and Ronaldo at Al-Nassr, the debate as to who is better has died down, as they are no longer playing at the highest level.
However, both will be at the World Cup this summer. Messi finally got his hands on the trophy back in 2022, whilst Ronaldo has never claimed the sport's ultimate prize. Ronaldo has the chance to level the score at this tournament, which will probably be the 41-year-old's last attempt to do so.
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