Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo took a dig at Barcelona star and professional rival Lionel Messi, highlighting his five Champions League titles and numerous records in Europe’s premier competition.
“The difference with Messi is that I played for several clubs and won the Champions League with different clubs,” in an interview with DAZN for a documentary.
Ronaldo’s Juventus were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season by Ajax. The 34-year-old is the all-time top-scorer in the competition. In 2018, before leaving Real Madrid for the Turin-based giants last season, his lifted his fifth title, after winning it for the first time a decade earlier with Manchester United.
Ronaldo added, “I was top scorer in the Champions League six seasons in a row. There aren’t many players who won five Champions League trophies, so this is why I feel that I can identity myself with this tournament.”
The last 12 years has witnessed a two-way slugfest between Ronaldo and Messi fighting for supremacy. Between 2008 and 2017, the duo shared 10 Ballon d’Or titles between them. Despite constant comparisons in the media and with fans, Ronaldo had words of praise for the Argentinian.
“Messi is an excellent player who will be remembered not just for his Ballon d’Or wins, but also for having improved – like me – year after year,” Ronaldo said. “I wake up every morning with the idea in my head of training with the objective of achieving something more, not just to earn money. Thank God, I don’t lack money, so what I want to earn is a place in the history of football.”
