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Back in 2015, Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo admitted that his longtime rival Lionel Messi was the favorite to win the Ballon d’Or, insisting that the Argentine icon had won major competitions. Ronaldo made the remark while he was at Real Madrid and Messi was playing his trade with Barcelona.
Cristiano Ronaldo had claimed the individual prize the year before, after winning the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey with Los Blancos. In the 2014/15 campaign, Lionel Messi was instrumental in Barcelona’s continental treble triumph, while Ronaldo ended the campaign trophyless. In addition to sweeping the major trophies, Messi scored 58 goals in 57 appearances across competitions.
In an interview with ITV, Ronaldo stated that Messi was likely to win the Ballon d’Or that year after winning both the Champions League and LaLiga. He said (via TNT Sports):
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“To be honest I think Messi is going to win. This kind of trophy depends on votes and he won competitions. He won the Champions League and La Liga. I have a normal relationship (with Messi). No-one did that in the past, only us. So it's good, I have a good relationship with him. We are not old friends but we respect each other.”
He added:
“In terms of individual (performances) I probably did the best season of my career, which is good. I was the highest scorer in Europe. It's all about votes. It's difficult. To be honest I'm not very worried about that because I never thought I'd win three times. To win it once is incredible.”
To date, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo remain two of the most decorated players in Ballon d’Or history. The former has won the award eight times, while the latter has claimed it five times.
When Lionel Messi said Cristiano Ronaldo’s fifth Ballon d’Or ‘hurt a little’
Lionel Messi once admitted that he was not entirely pleased when Cristiano Ronaldo equaled his Ballon d’Or tally. Ronaldo won the prestigious award in 2017, claiming his fifth and tying Messi’s record at the time.
However, in 2019, Messi won the award for a sixth time, setting a new benchmark. After surpassing the Portuguese star, Messi stated that it had stung after Ronaldo caught up. He told France Football in an interview (via Marca):
"When Cristiano Ronaldo pulled level with me, I'll admit that it hurt a little as I was no longer alone at the top. But, at that moment he deserved the Ballon d'Or and I couldn't do much more about it. I understand why I didn't win, as we hadn't won the Champions League and winning that competition gives you a better chance of winning the Ballon d'Or. When Cristiano Ronaldo was winning all the [individual] trophies it was because he'd had really good seasons and had been winning the Champions League, being decisive as his team did so."
Messi would go on to claim two more Ballon d’Ors in 2021 and 2023, to become the player with the most wins in the awards history.
