"He wants to improve every day" - When Roberto Carlos explained why Cristiano Ronaldo is better than Lionel Messi

Real Madrid legend Roberto Carlos compared Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo back in 2017. He claimed the Portuguese was the better of the two and also gave his explanation for the same.

The former defender's comments came in the same year that Ronaldo won the last of his five Ballons d'Or. Interestingly, Messi has added three more Ballons d'Or since and now has eight of the prestigious awards.

Explaining his decision to pick the former Manchester United attacker over the Argentine, Carlos told Fox Sports:

"These days, when you talk about football, you talk about Neymar, Messi and Ronaldo. Cristiano has worked to improve. When you talk about the Ballon d'Or or any other prize, it's not just any person who votes, it's people who know football, who follow the stats of the players and pick the best in the world.

"I watch him train every day and the way he works is exciting. He wants to improve every day. That's the difference with Messi. Leo is a phenomenon, we never talk about Neymar... but that side of Cristiano, of training, professionalism, focus, motivation, success...Cristiano has an advantage over all the others."

The two legends of the sport, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, have since gone on to leave Europe and are now playing in the Saudi Pro League and the MLS, respectively.

Roberto Carlos recently hinted that Lionel Messi was the best footballer of his generation over Cristiano Ronaldo

Interestingly, during a discussion with 90min earlier this year, Roberto Carlos hinted that he considered Lionel Messi the best of his generation. He looked back at one of the two games that he played against the Argentine, also calling him the 'new Maradona'.

He said (via GOAL):

“When Messi dribbled past Cannavaro and me and ran over us and the match ended, I turned to Cannavaro and said: ‘My God, who is this player? He’s the new Maradona.’ I’m lucky, I didn’t have much time left before I retired, how would the next generation of defenders cope? They’ll really struggle with him.

"I knew he’d be the best player in the world. In the future, he would win everything and I’m happy because I watched him more than I played against him.”

Notably, the only game that former Real Madrid defenders Roberto Carlos and Fabio Cannavaro played together against Messi's Barcelona resulted in a 2-0 win for Los Blancos in the 2005/06 season.

However, the first time the Brazilian faced Lionel Messi resulted in a heavy 3-0 defeat for his side in the 2004/05 term.