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Former Madrid player Angel Di Maria did not name Cristiano Ronaldo in his best XI of teammates earlier this year but included Lionel Messi in the list. The Argentine played alongside Ronaldo in Real Madrid for four seasons between 2010-2014 before joining Manchester United.
In an interview with MARCA, Di Maria revealed his best XI of teammates, explaining that he has the "luxury of choosing" from a large pool of talent.
"I had the opportunity to play with so many and have that privilege that sometimes if they don't ask me a question like that I don't start thinking about who I played with and the truth is that it is crazy if I have to put myself together. I could easily put together two all-star teams," Di Maria said.
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In his best XI, the Argentine star included Emiliano Martinez (GK), Sergio Ramos, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcelo, Javier Mascherano, Rui Costa, Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe.
Di Maria shared the pitch with Messi, Otamendi, Javier Mascherano and Emi Martinez as part of the Argentina national team. He played alongside Marcelo and Ramos in Real Madrid and Rui Costa in Benfica. Finally, he chose Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mbappe among his Paris St-Germain teammates.
The Argentine midfielder did not name a right-back and restricted himself to only ten players in his best XI of teammates.
Angel Di Maria played alongside both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
Angel Di Maria has played alongside both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo during the prime years of his career. While the Argentine spent only four years with Cristiano Ronaldo, he has played with Messi throughout his career in the Argentina national team.
The winger has shared the pitch with Messi in 137 games, and they have 15 joint goal contributions. Meanwhile, he has played 166 matches alongside Ronaldo with 38 joint goal contributions (via Transfermarkt).
The Argentine joined Real Madrid in 2010, a year after Cristiano Ronaldo joined the club in 2009. The two played with each other for four seasons and won multiple titles together, including a UEFA Champions League, a La Liga and two Copa Del Reys.
Di Maria not including Cristiano Ronaldo in his starting XI is not surprising, as he has always enjoyed a more cherished friendship with his Argentina teammate Lionel Messi. He also had a more successful partnership with La Pulga, compared to Ronaldo at the club level.
Messi and Di Maria have played together for the national team for 17 years. The former Los Blancos star began playing for the U-20 national team in 2007 while Messi began in 2005.
Alongside Lionel Messi, Di Maria led his country to win the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The two also played together for Paris St-Germain in the 2021-22 season after the former Blaugrana icon joined the French club as a free agent.
Notably, Di Maria did not include his former Real Madrid teammate Iker Casillas in his best XI as well despite the goalkeeper being considered one of the best in the world. The Argentine included the Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez instead due to his key contributions in Argentina lifting the 2022 World Cup.
