‘Can’t stand each other’ – Why Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry will not fade until record-shattering Ballon d’Or winners are ‘finished’

Two all-time greats have spent the vast majority of their respective careers competing against one another. They have raised the bar of individual brilliance to never before seen heights, with 13 Ballons d’Or and countless major honours - including the Champions League title, World Cup and European Championship crowns - collected between them.

Neither Messi nor Ronaldo has ever had anything bad to say about the other, but Liverpool legend Carragher – who has faced both in the past – has told Football365 of an epic battle for supremacy: “They didn’t want to lose out to the other for trophies like the Ballon d’Or – that was always the big rivalry for them every season. They definitely made each other better. But I think they probably can’t appreciate that until they’ve finished. While they’re playing, I bet they can’t stand each other. No matter what one did, the other would come back at them. They could never rest. They could never enjoy what they’d done as much because they knew the other one would be coming back at them to go and get more goals. I always felt that if one of them scored a hat-trick, the next night the other one would go and get a hat-trick. They had to always completely outshine each other. It must have been tough mentally, that Messi-Ronaldo thing. And I’d say more so for Ronaldo, because I think probably seven or eight people out of 10 would say Messi was the better player. That really must have driven Ronaldo on. No matter what he did, people still said that. That was a big thing in his career, his mentality.”

Carragher went on to say of two men that now dominate the long-running GOAT debate: “When I was a kid and before these two came along, you’d think about whoever was the best player in the world and maybe they’d be the best for a year, two years. Then somebody else would come along or there’d be another tournament and it would be someone else. For me, my first was [Diego] Maradona. Then Ruud Gullit came along. Then Roberto Baggio came along in the early 90s. And then [Zinedine] Zidane appears, then Ronaldinho. Every couple of years there was a new Ballon d’Or winner. It’s unbelievable how many Ballons d’Or they’ve both won, considering they were competing with each other. Normally, if someone would win the Ballon d’Or two or three times, they were an absolute god. These two were both winning it five, six, seven times. And you’d think, ‘If Ronaldo wasn’t here, Messi probably would have won the Ballon d’Or 12 times’. I’ve never seen anyone have the longevity at the top of those two. Maybe someone could get to their level for two or three years, but to go for as long as those players have, I’m not sure we’ll ever see that again.”

Messi is currently plying his trade in MLS with Inter Miami, posting six goal contributions in his latest outing for them, while Ronaldo is still going strong at 39 years of age for Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr – with a hat-trick last time out taking him to 47 goals for the season.