That argument Dani Alves gave is not an argument. Of course Messi is gifted, but so is Cristiano AND he works (god knows how hard) to get better and better. Saying Messi's better because he's gifted is nonsense. ;) this "which one of Messi and Cristiano is better" war is never going to end, is it?
I almost always answer privately but I’ll make an exception for this reply because I have things to say x)
Messi is undeniably an incredible player. I don’t like his style of play, personally, it just doesn’t connect to me on an emotional level, but still I can fully appreciate how fantastic he can be. he is very gifted and he deserves recognition. but he created himself an image - he comes off as that humble boy-next-door, he’s always like “what? me? famous?? NO WAY!!1 i’m so simple! i just play football and it just so happens that i’m good at it, i never intended to be that good but hey, it’s dESTINY!”. he comes off as a secluded, misunderstood talent.
Cristiano, on the other hand, refuses to publicly undermine himself and that is a perfectly justified position. he knows he’s good, to say the least, and he will never pretend to be less than he really is just for people to stop thinking he’s narcissistic. fuck no. if someone takes “I’m a great player” coming from a great player as a sign of narcissism, who cares what they think then? Cristiano took his great talent and started working his ass off on it, and he never stops. he’s the first player to arrive at the training and the last one to leave the locker room, he gives everything, every breath he takes on the pitch is about football and nothing else. yet, mind you, he’s always referred to as the nicest person in the team - something Messi has never really cared about and something that is tragically overlooked by media and replaced with this “he’s a selfish egoist” typical bullshit. I have no idea whatsoever where does this idiotic idea come from.
both of them are talented, both of them are hardworking (although Cris is arguably kinda more hardworking than Messi), both of them are extremely efficient. Messi is just kind of better at selling his image. personal preference is a matter of choice, and both of them must be respected by everyone in football because they deserve it. I wish everyone understood it. as far as “the war” goes, rivalry between Barca and RM, between cules and madridistas, is endless, but I really really don’t like that it is often turned into a rivalry between Messi fans and Ronaldo fans. clubs mustn’t be about a single player, no matter how good he is.