Cristiano Ronaldo has heaped praise on his long-time rival Lionel Messi, claiming the Argentinian is "amazing." Ronaldo has made headlines in the last week following the airing of his explosive interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV.
During the controversial interview with Morgan, Ronaldo lambasted the club's current state, as well as strongly criticizing Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag and former colleagues such as Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney, as well as the mindsets of the club's younger players.
However, he also highlighted other several topics, including Messi - the pair are without a doubt the greatest players of their generation.
Between 2008 and 2021, Ronaldo and Messi won the Ballon d'Or 12 times out of 13, with Luka Modric in 2018 being the only time neither of them won.
Messi had the advantage over Ronaldo, winning the trophy seven times to Ronaldo's five, but there is no doubt the pair have enormous mutual respect.
Ronaldo expressed his admiration for PSG sensation in the second part of his interview with Morgan, which aired on Thursday.
"Amazing player, he is magic, top," Ronaldo said.
"As a person, we share the stage 16 years, imagine, 16 years we share. So, I have great relationship with him. I'm not a friend of him in terms of, what I mean friend is the guy who was with you in your house, speaking on the phone, no, but it's like a team-mate."
"He's a guy that I really respect the way he always speaks about me. Even his wife or and my girlfriend, they always respect and they're from Argentina." he added.
With Ronaldo's future at Manchester United uncertain and Messi in the final year of his PSG deal, the next step in both players' careers has been addressed in the media in recent months.
In fact, both Messi and Ronaldo have recently been linked with a move to Inter Miami, the MLS franchise co-owned by David Beckham and managed by Phil Neville.
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