Messi rivalry is a positive thing – Ronaldo

The Real Madrid forward claims he is not bitter about being portrayed as the yin to the Barca attacker’s yang and suggests he has been at the same level for several years

Cristiano Ronaldo sees his rivalry with Lionel Messi as a positive and sees nothing wrong with being compared to the Barcelona attacker.

The Clasico rivals have been pitted as opposing world-class forces within Spanish and European football for over half a decade.

Ronaldo has got the better of Messi so far in 2014, having won the Champions League, Copa del Rey and Uefa Super Cup with Real Madrid as well as individual accolades with the Ballon d’Or and the Golden Boot.

“This is part of my life,” Ronaldo told World Soccer when asked what his thoughts on the rivalry with Messi are. “It is normal that people compare us. I am used to it. It happened to me at Manchester United and I know how to manage it.

“We are football colleagues. Outside of football I have no relationship with Messi, but not with other players either. It is a positive rivalry.”

The 29-year-old, who shared the Golden Boot with then-Liverpool forward Luis Suarez (now also a Barca player) after scoring 31 goals in La Liga, suggests the last 12 months might just have been the best of his career prize-wise but does not believe his own ability has shot up significantly.

“Individual prizes are the result of having achieved collective objectives,” Ronaldo added. “We had a fantastic season. We won the Champions League, the Copa del Rey and the Uefa Super Cup.

“A trophy like the Golden Boot is the prize for playing well as a team. I will not lie. I really wanted to win it.

“Maybe it has been the best for collective or individual prizes. But I have been at the same level for the last six or seven years.”

Ronaldo will find out who he is up against as he bids to retain the Ballon d’Or he took from Messi in January on October 28. The duo will next come up against each other three days earlier when the Santiago Bernabeu plays host to Luis Enrique’s men.

By Miles Chambers

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ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson

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An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.

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