#3 They do their talking on the pitch and not off it
For many of the greater rivalries on the planet, the reports in the media were as frequent as their retorts on the pitch. For some, the match-up goes on even with their careers having ended as players. Just look at Pele and Maradona, who are still at each others’ throats when given an opportunity to talk about each other.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, however, do not indulge in a war of words at all. They seem to be quite happy to keep their angst to themselves and only let it all out on the pitch. Week in week out, you see one score a brace only for the other to outdo them with a hat-trick later on in the same game week. You see one break a record only for the other to outdo them in a few weeks’ time.
It’s almost crazy how the two can just seem to outdo each other in such a short span of time. In fact, if you place their scoring records and record-breaking exploits in a timeline, you could argue they’re practically conversing and arguing through the tumbling records. Back and forth, records break and the duo seem assassin like on the pitch while rather quiet smiling figures off it.
