Speaking in Frankfurt, Leo Messi claimed that although he doesn’t have any sort of relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo, he respects him and has never sought to measure himself against the Portuguese star. "I respect him, but I don’t have a relationship with him, just like with many other players. We see each other out on the pitch. I’m friendly with my club teammates and people from the national squad, other Argentinian players I’ve got to know over the years", Messi told the Argentine sports newspaper 'Olé'.
"I don’t have any sort of problem with Cristiano. It’s the media, the press, who stir things up, because they want there to be competition between us, but I’ve never competed with Cristiano or tried to fight against him. I try to do my job and perform to the best of my ability to win titles with my country and Barcelona", he stated.
As for the Ballon d’Or, the Argentinean forward said that he’d like one of Xavi or Iniesta, his Barça teammates, to take home the award this year. "They’ve been doing really well for ages now and have won big trophies like the World Cup and the European Championship with their country".
"Cristiano Ronaldo, who is a great player, and Casillas, who has been spoken about a lot, are also up there. But for friendship’s sake, personally I’d like Xavi or Andrés Iniesta to win it", Messi added.