Contrary to popular opinion, the intense rivalry between the two greatest footballing legends to ever graced the beautiful game Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo ends on the green pitch and on the awards stands. The pundits would have you think that they are at loggerheads but the pair have come out to prove everyone wrong.
The pairs crossed path recently at the EURO awards where Vigil van Dijk of Liverpool beat the two to the top spot. Messi was second while Ronaldo landed on the second runner-up spot.
Ronaldo dangled the prospect of a private dinner with Messi in a recent interview, an idea well received by Messi.
“Yes, I don’t have any problem with that,” Messi told SPORT.
“I’ve always said that I don’t have any issue with him. We might not be friends because we’ve never shared a dressing room together, but I always see him at award shows and there’s no problem.
“We actually spoke with each other for quite a long time at the most recent show.
“I don’t know if there will be a dinner because I don’t know if our paths will cross for obvious reasons, each one of us has our own life and our own commitments. But obviously, I would accept the invitation.”
The Barcelona captain has missed the first matches of the new league season with a calf injury and in that period the team has only managed a win out of three.
“I feel better,” he said. “It [the injury] was really bad because it happened on my first day back [after the Copa America] and it originally looked to be something minor but, in reality, I have been out of action for the past 15 days.
“Now I know what it is and I feel more at ease. I will return when I feel I have fully recovered.
“I’ve spent a long time on the sidelines. As soon as I started this happened to me and I can’t wait to return.”