There was a time in the not too recent past when Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were on top of the world. Not just in a footballing sense but also in the fact that their images were almost untouched. They were the two perfect figures at the top of the sport, battling it out for Ballon d’Ors at the two biggest clubs in the world.
It looked for all the world like they would stay at Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively, until they called it a day. But their career trajectory has not quite fallen the way they would have wanted it to from both a moral and footballing perspective.
All of the attention has been on Cristiano Ronaldo after his interview with Piers Morgan, where he slams his current club, his manager and the situation that has seen him left out of the team on multiple occasions. His move from Real Madrid to Juventus was a sign that he was on the decline, and what Manchester United fell for was not the best player in the world, but instead a striker on huge wages way past his best.
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His performances on the pitch this season have done nothing to justify his place in the team and instead of a glorious homecoming, his move back to Manchester has tarnished his reputation as one of the greatest players of all time. This latest strop looks likely to end his unhappy second spell in Manchester which has seen him relinquish his dominance of the Champions League.
Whatever comes next for Ronaldo, it is unlikely to be another move to an elite team. What his performances for United have shown this season is that his days at the top are numbered, which brings a sad end to his elite club career. He’ll be desperate for another move and a chance to add to his 140 Champions League goals, but it seems unlikely to materialise at this stage given how he has acted in recent months.
For all of the constant debates on social media between Messi and Ronaldo, one thing can be agreed on - it was never meant to end like this. Ronaldo has become increasingly dislikable as his career has progressed while Messi, who was football’s squeaky clean golden child at Barcelona, has now soured his reputation with several questionable decisions.
Firstly, the decision to join Qatari-owned PSG after being forced to leave Barca. That move to a side almost guaranteed to win their domestic league barely challenged the Argentine, while he is happy to pick up his giant paypacket from one of the biggest sportswashing endeavours on the planet.
Given the number of clubs that could actually sign Messi was limited, you could make enough excuses to somewhat justify his move to the French capital. But what cannot be justified is his decision to become a tourism ambassador for Saudi Arabia. With that decision based upon sheer financial greed, he supports a regime that has assassinated Jamal Khashoggi, committed several human rights abuses, marginalised the LGBTQ+ community and started a war in Yemen.
He is the greatest football player of all time, but there was a time where he was seen to support UNICEF, rather than a backwards nation and, like it or not, it makes idolising him as god-like far more difficult for anybody with a conscience.
They’ll both likely make their final international bow at this upcoming World Cup. It’s the final chance for either one of them to make themselves immortal on the international stage. A World Cup win for either would surely end the debate on who is the greatest but at club level, this near-perfect duopoly have now permanently tarnished their flawless images.
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