"Messi is obviously no exception" - When Cristiano Ronaldo commented on reports of his X-rated nickname for Lionel Messi

By Deepungsu Pandit

Modified Apr 13, 2025 11:18 GMT

Cristiano Ronaldo once vehemently denied reports of his x-rated nickname for Lionel Messi. The incident occurred in the aftermath of a book published about the Argentine maestro by journalist Guillem Balague.

The two superstars have been up against each other for football supremacy all through their careers. Now at the twilight of their illustrious careers, their rivalry remains undiminished, with the two players continuing to divide the football world into two camps.

In 2014, Balague published a book about La Pulga that outlined intriguing facts about the rivalry. In the book, the journalist stated that, according to some Real Madrid players, CR7 had an offensive nickname for Lionel Messi.

Cristiano Ronaldo, understandably, was furious with the claims and immediately took to social media to refute them. He wrote (via BBC):

"This is absolutely false and I have assured my lawyer takes action to sue those responsible. I have the utmost respect for all my professional colleagues, and Messi is obviously no exception."

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been on a goalscoring spree throughout their career and have some significant numbers under their belt. CR7 has registered 933 goals and 257 assists from 1273 games in his career. La Pulga, meanwhile, has 858 goals and 381 assists from 1092 appearances for club and country so far.

Will Cristiano Ronaldo team up with Lionel Messi at Inter Miami this summer?

Cristiano Ronaldo will not join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami in a short-term deal this summer, according to acclaimed journalist Fabrizio Romano (via GOAL). The Portuguese superstar is in the final months of his career, and, understandably, speculation is ripe regarding his next move.

CR7 has been a huge hit with Al-Nassr, having joined them in December 2022 after cutting ties with Manchester United. Ronaldo has shown no signs of slowing down and has taken football in the Middle East to the global stage.

While the league title has eluded him so far, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner has won the Arab Club Champions Cup with the Saudi club. Last month, reports surfaced suggesting that the Portuguese could join Inter Miami in a short-term deal for the FIFA Club World Cup. The rumours soon caught fire, sending fans into a frenzy, but Romano has since refuted those claims.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written over 8500 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

Know More

Edited by Sankalp Srivastava