Gerard Pique has revealed that Lionel Messi was always a very team-focused player and didn’t pay much attention to his rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi and Ronaldo shared a great rivalry while playing for Barcelona and Real Madrid in the La Liga.
Pique, who observed the Argentine from close quarters, added Messi was always team-focused. Messi and Ronaldo are regarded as two of the best players of all time and pushed each other to the limits.
“He wasn’t that type of guy. He was very team-focused, although he was getting all the first page in all the newspapers and radios and TV. At the end of the day, he was very close with all of us and he was just focused on winning titles like the Champions League and these kinds of things. At the end of the day because he was the best. Then he was winning the Ballon d’Or but it wasn’t something that was a priority for him,” Pique said while talking to talkSport.
Pique played a total of 506 matches with Messi and savored great success with the forward. The duo lifted the La Liga title on eight occasions and also won the Champions League thrice.
Pique also played 15 matches with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United.
The Spaniard added that both Ronaldo and Messi are amazing and deserve a lot of credit for their consistent performances.
“I think that they are both amazing. We are talking about two of the best players, not just in the world but the history of this sport. I always said that Messi has some talent that no one has. I mean, he has the ball and his speed controlling the ball. The ball doesn’t go two metres far from his foot, it’s always there. It’s impossible to catch him, this talent I didn’t see from anyone,” Pique said.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is such a different player, they are very different. He is tall, strong, he’s really complete. He can do anything. He can do goals with the head, free-kicks, penalties, take one on one. For me, it’s like Messi is not human, but Cristiano is the best of the humans.”
Ronaldo is currently plying his trade for Al Nassr whereas Messi is playing for Inter Miami CF in the Major League Soccer.