The Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate will never come to an end. And it now seems unlikely that we will ever see the two playing together, even though there have been reports that Al Nassr could make a big move for the Argentine.
Amid interest from Al Nassr, Messi's quotes from 2020 on his possible partnership with Ronaldo have resurfaced. The PSG star claimed that he would have passed the ball to the Portuguese had they played in the same team.
He was speaking with Mundo Deportivo during his time at Barcelona, when he said:
"It's normal that he continues to score, he is a predatory striker, he loves to score, any day he plays he will score. He has many good attributes as a forward and at the minimum, he converts. If we played together I think I would pass the ball to him, yes … Real without Ronaldo has lost many goals, but it was obvious it would happened.
"Not only goals, but Cristiano also brings many other things. If a team loses a player who scored 50 goals per season, it's noticeable. Real Madrid has great players, but Cristiano scores 50 goals per season."
Messi and Ronaldo played against each other for nine years in La Liga before the Portuguese star moved to Juventus.
Cristiano Ronaldo has respect for Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted that Lionel Messi pushed him to become better and believes that it was true the other way around as well. He added that they have a good relationship and hopes to have dinner with the Argentine in the future.
During his interview with Piers Morgan last year, he said (via Daily Mirror):
"We have shared the stage 15 years. I don't know if that's happened before — the same two guys on the same stage all the time. Of course, we have a good relationship. We haven't had dinner together yet, but I hope in the future. We had that battle in Spain. I pushed him and he pushed me as well. So it's good to be part of the history of football."
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have won 12 Ballon d'Ors between them and have dominated the world of football for nearly two decades.