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Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has revealed that he used Lionel Messi’s advice to unnerve Cristiano Ronaldo’s teammate Bruno Fernandes during a penalty kick.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United took on Martinez’s Aston Villa in the Premier League on September 25, 2021. The Villans found themselves 1-0 up at Old Trafford courtesy of a Kortney Hause strike in the 88th minute. In injury time, Manchester United got a glorious chance to equalize after Hause had handled the ball inside the Villa box, gifting the hosts a penalty.
To everyone’s surprise, Bruno Fernandes stepped up to take the penalty, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portugal attacking midfielder lacked confidence and blasted his effort over the bar.
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Looking back on Fernandes’ miss, Martinez said that it was a piece of invaluable advice from Messi that helped him win the mind game against Fernandes. Speaking to Behind the Game, Martinez said:
“I saw that Ronaldo was disappointed at not taking it, so I thought 'hmmm, there's tension here'. I said 'come on, you take it now, you are the taker'. I was saying he does not want to shoot. I said to Cavani 'why is Ronaldo not shooting'?
“I'm a chatty boy. It's not even trash talk. I create chaos. It was the 92nd minute of the game. I have to distract them in some way because they've got everything to win. Bruno did not miss a pen for 25 pens or something.”
The Golden Glove winner then revealed the advice Messi had given him about Fernandes.
“I asked Messi, and he said 'when you move all around the place like that, he don't like it' he didn't like it,” Martinez added.
As advised by the Paris Saint-Germain superstar, Martinez strutted along the goalline before Fernandes’ kick. Losing his concentration, the 28-year-old ended up sending his effort over Martinez’s crossbar.
Fernandes has taken 51 penalties for club and country, converting an impressive 46 of them.
Gary Lineker says there's no comparison between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
England legend Gary Lineker has always been a vocal admirer of Barcelona and Argentina icon Lionel Messi.
In a 2019 interview with talkSPORT, Lineker said that there's simply no comparing the two, as Messi is on a much higher level than Cristiano Ronaldo. He said (via the Mirror):
“He (Messi) is just phenomenal. He's 31 now (Messi is now aged 35) and he's still going strong. He plays the game in a way the rest of us are not familiar with. I watch a lot of football, and people pine on this whole Messi vs Ronaldo debate; there's no comparison for me.”
While Cristiano Ronaldo has more career goals than Lionel Messi (834 vs 805), the latter has more league titles (11 vs 7) and the coveted FIFA World Cup trophy in his collection.
Messi also has the edge over Ronaldo when it comes to Ballon d’Or awards, too, winning it seven times, two more times than Ronaldo.
