Rio Ferdinand reveals how Cristiano Ronaldo uses Lionel Messi as fuel for motivation

Cristiano Ronaldo finds inspiration from the smallest of things. Rio Ferdinand claims that even pundits picking Lionel Messi over the Portuguese is enough to motivate the Juventus star.

Gary Lineker has always been a big fan of Messi and has backed the Argentine as the Greatest Of All Time. The former England striker believes the Barcelona star is miles ahead of anyone else in the game and it is not debatable. In a recent interview, the BBC pundit picked Lionel Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo by saying:

"[Kylian] Mbappe is already a global superstar who is most likely to jump in the shoes of [Cristiano] Ronaldo, but not [Lionel] Messi – he can do things that others simply can't."

🎙Rio Ferdinand :“Cristiano Ronaldo was an obsessed human in terms of becoming the best. He's a phenomenal player but someone who thinks about everything in the game to get every little bit out of himself." pic.twitter.com/qitt0bECGZ

— CristianoXtra (@CristianoXtra_) June 24, 2021

Rio Ferdinand has now revealed such messages fuel Cristiano Ronaldo's desire to become better every single day. The Portuguese star takes such messages seriously and even ends up texting Ferdinand about it.

"It's a great example to young players and he uses negativity as fuel. You've [Lineker] said some things like your preference would be [Lionel] Messi out of the two," Ferdinand recently told Lineker on the BBC.

"He [Cristiano Ronaldo] will send me a text saying, 'I can't believe he said that, can't believe he's done that,' he just uses anything [as fuel]. You think he's done so much in his life, 'Why do you care about what anyone says about you? You know you're the guy.' It's the competitive nature. That's all it is. And you need that."

🎙️ Rio Ferdinand:"Cristiano Ronaldo uses negativity as fuel. For example Gary Lineker say Messi is the better out of the two. Cris will text me saying 'why has he said that? It's his competitive nature and you need that to be the best." pic.twitter.com/AdnvQaM6o1

— CristianoXtra (@CristianoXtra_) June 24, 2021

What next for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi?

Cristiano Ronaldo is currently leading the way for Portugal at EURO 2020. The Juventus star scored twice in the final group stage game to help his side draw 2-2 against France.

Portugal now face Belgium in the Round of 16 on the 27th of June. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored thrice against Belgium – once in a friendly (2016) and twice in EURO 2008 qualifiers.

As for Lionel Messi, he takes the pitch with Argentina on 28th June. They face Bolivia and know that a win would seal their place in the next round.