Jose Mourinho has called Messi and Ronaldo rivalry a bittersweet experience for them
What's the story?
Jose Mourinho believes that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi must be feeling lucky and unlucky at times as they have to face each other.
In case you didn't know...
Today is the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals draw, both Barcelona and Juventus have qualified for the final eight. There are chances that both heavyweights can be drawn against each other.
The heart of the matter
In his RT show "On the touchline" Jose Mourinho was talking about the famous rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He felt that both the legends can be considered both lucky and unlucky as they play in the same generation.
Mourinho pointed out that the two legends of the game motivate each other to try harder. This extra hard work and motivation have helped them in scoring more hat-tricks and winning more individual honours.
“They are lucky because they can compete against each other, they are lucky because they look to each other, in a positive way, they get extra motivation with the things they do, the number of hat-tricks, the number of champions, the number of gold boots," Jose Mourinho said.
On the flip side, they can be considered unfortunate because they could have won double individual honours if their arch rival was not there.
“They are unlucky because if there is only one of them, they would have like 10 golden balls, golden boots,” Mourinho added.
Former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager also highlighted the fact that these two are far ahead of anyone else in their generation. He even called them little monsters as these two have set the bar really high for others.
“I call them the little monsters, they are coming behind. And the bar is really high. It’s really an incredible motivation for guys like Neymar, (Kylian) Mbappe, (Antoine) Griezmann. I think Griezmann looked to Cristiano (on Tuesday) and thought, ‘OK, I am world champion, I am Europa League winner, I am doing fantastically well, but look at this.’ Jose Mourinho further added.
What's next?
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have faced each other three times in the UCL. Messi came out on top in both 2009 final against Manchester United and 2011 semifinal against Real Madrid. Will this record change in future?