When Cristiano Ronaldo 'liked' and laughed at journalist's rant about Lionel Messi 

Cristiano Ronaldo seemingly agreed with AS and El Chiringuito journalist Tomas Roncero's rant about Lionel Messi in 2023. The Portuguese superstar liked a video posted by the journalist and left four laughing emojis in the comments of the post on Instagram.

Messi's 2023 Ballon d'Or win was not well received by Roncero, and his rant was posted on social media by AS.

Roncero claimed that the Argentine was still riding on the 2022 FIFA World Cup win and added that the award felt like a tribute to his career rather than the best player of the year. He said:

"As a tribute, okay, I recognize a tribute. They turned it into a tribute to his career. Well, it seems like it's a good tribute. It's a very good footballing story. Either way, he's retired. He's been there in Miami for a few months now. Already in the last year, [for PSG] he was withdrawn because he was preparing to play in the World Cup. That happened 10 or 11 months ago. I think I've already forgotten it myself. Well, I don't even remember the Qatar World Cup. This was on November 22, tomorrow it's November again already."

The video caught Ronaldo's attention, and he was among those who commented on it. He also liked the video, hinting that he agreed with Roncero's opinion. It was the eighth Ballon d'Or of Lionel Messi's career, while Cristiano Ronaldo has won the coveted award five times.

When Toni Kroos claimed Lionel Messi's 2021 Ballon d'Or win was undeserved

Lionel Messi's 2023 Ballon d'Or was not the only award that stirred controversy. His 2021 win also caught plenty of attention, with Cristiano Ronaldo's former teammate Toni Kroos among those who believed it was undeserved.

Kroos pointed out that Messi and Ronaldo were the best players in the last decade, but were certainly not the best in 2021. He said on his podcast:

"It's absolutely not deserved. There is no doubt that Messi, with Cristiano [Ronaldo], has been the player of the last decade, but this year there should've been others ahead of him."

The Real Madrid legend chose Karim Benzema as his top pick and claimed that even Ronaldo was better than Messi that season.

"For me, Karim would have been the number one if you were really looking for the best individual player of the last year, because I can see from close quarters what an outstanding footballer he is," Kroos said. "When I see how many decisive goals Cristiano has scored lately - Manchester United are still in the Champions League thanks to him alone - then, in my eyes, Cristiano would have also come before Messi."

Lionel Messi won the award in 2021 with 613 points, while Cristiano Ronaldo came in sixth with 178. Robert Lewandowski and Benzema finished second and third, respectively.

Edited by Nihal