I used to spend googles of energy deriding Cristiano Ronaldo and applauding the actual best player in world football, Lionel Messi. As juvenile and pointless as it may have been, I gotta tell ya, it feels great to be justified. This individual competition has never been won over one single game, and it never will be. It's impossible to pick out the exact moment when Messi surpassed Ronaldo, because to be honest, that moment doesn't exist. Messi was born a better player, and will forever be the superior player. That's just the way it is, no matter how many goals CR7 scores.
Having just watched Messi score a delighful hat-trick against Atletico Madrid, you could be forgiven for thinking that such a magnificent performance "proves" he is better than Ronaldo. However, that's not the full story. What truly illustrates the gulf in class between these two much lauded players is the fan reaction after their recent respective withdrawels. Ronaldo has been taken off to a chorus of boos and hisses in the games gone by, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of these came from his own people during that famous "self-substitution" incident against Sunderland. Messi, however, was given a standing ovation by the opposing Atletico Madrid fans as he exited the field (something Ronaldinho received from Real Madrid fans of all people a couple of years ago). I can only dream about how damaging it is for Ronaldo's ego to see Messi playing as he is and receiving all of the praise so effortlessly. And just to rub salt into the wound, Messi left Ronaldo out of his Team of 2008. I love you Lionel. No, really, I do.
Having just watched Messi score a delighful hat-trick against Atletico Madrid, you could be forgiven for thinking that such a magnificent performance "proves" he is better than Ronaldo. However, that's not the full story. What truly illustrates the gulf in class between these two much lauded players is the fan reaction after their recent respective withdrawels. Ronaldo has been taken off to a chorus of boos and hisses in the games gone by, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of these came from his own people during that famous "self-substitution" incident against Sunderland. Messi, however, was given a standing ovation by the opposing Atletico Madrid fans as he exited the field (something Ronaldinho received from Real Madrid fans of all people a couple of years ago). I can only dream about how damaging it is for Ronaldo's ego to see Messi playing as he is and receiving all of the praise so effortlessly. And just to rub salt into the wound, Messi left Ronaldo out of his Team of 2008. I love you Lionel. No, really, I do.
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