“They have both done very good things” - Barcelona's Joao Felix's interesting response when asked to pick between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi
Barcelona loanee Joao Felix was asked to choose between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in a recent interview with Spanish journalist Gerard Romero.
Discussing a number of topics, Felix was also asked to choose between the two football legends. He responded (via Barca Universal):
“Messi and Cristiano should not be compared, they should be enjoyed. Choosing one is very complicated, they have both done very good things that will not be repeated.”
Felix plays with Ronaldo in the Portuguese national team while he is currently on loan at Barcelona, the club where Lionel Messi became a legend of the game.
Currently, both superstars are pursuing their club careers outside Europe. Ronaldo is representing Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia while Messi plays for Inter Miami in the United State of America.
As for Felix, he is currently on a season-long loan at Barcelona. The Portuguese forward has registered nine goals and six assists in 35 games. He is set to return to Atletico Madrid at the end of this season, where his contract will run till 2029.
Les Ferdinand claims Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi changed the game
Both Ronaldo and Messi made it a habit to hit an incredible number of goals every season, despite not playing centre-forwards in their team. Their influence from the wing went as far as pushing centre-forwards to play in a more withdrawn role in order for these legends to flourish in the game.
Former English defender Les Ferdinand believes this playing style changed the game in today's environment, wherein young footballers no longer want to become traditional centre-forwards.
Speaking on The Overlap podcast, Ferdinand claimed:
"Ronaldo and Messi. We went through a period of wingers who were scoring goals, scoring 30 goals a season and everyone wanted to be Ronaldo, and everyone wanted to be Messi. The players no longer wanted to be a traditional centre-forward, didn't want to be a number nine."
Messi and Ronaldo has registered 826 and 885 goals respectively in 1052 and 1215 matches.