“It’d be great to play with them” – When Cristiano Ronaldo admitted he would like to play alongside Lionel Messi and another Ballon d’Or rival

Cristiano Ronaldo admitted in 2015 that he would have liked to play alongside former Ballon d'Or rivals Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer.

The three superstars were in contention to win the individual accolade for the year 2014. Ronaldo and Messi were prolific for their club sides Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively. Neuer, on the other hand, was a part of the 2014 FIFA World Cup-winning Germany team and was omnipresent between the sticks for Bayern Munich.

Ahead of the event in January 2015, Ronaldo expressed his admiration for both of his rivals, saying (quotes as per Football Espana):

“I’d have liked to play on the same team as Messi and Neuer. It would’ve been nice in the past, but I’m not so sure it will happen in the future. Still, it’d be great to play with them."

Cristiano Ronaldo eventually went on to win the Ballon d'Or in 2014, amassing a total of 37.66% of the votes. Lionel Messi came in second with 15.76% of the total votes, while Manuel Neuer got 15.72% to finish in third place.

Before the ceremony, Ronaldo said that achieving collective and individual success over the course of the season was much more important than winning the Ballon d'Or. The Portuguese ace said:

“I think the [Ballon d’Or’s] isn’t as important as what I achieve both collectively and individually with my team. Sure, my objective is to enter football history. I've always said that and it won’t not change. It’d be a pleasure, but I'm happy as I am."

When was the first time Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were on the Ballon d'Or podium together?

2007 was the first year when Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were in the Ballon d'Or top three together. Brazilian legend Kaka was the winner of the award that year.

Ronaldo finished second with 277 points while Messi was a close third with 255 points. Ronaldo went on to win the award for the first time in his career in 2008 while Messi won his first in 2009.

Since then, the two superstars of the modern era have won the award 12 times between them. Ronaldo has five while Messi has won seven. The duo made the award a personal rivalry since 2008 until Luka Modric became the first player not named Ronaldo or Messi to win it in 2018.