Ronaldo issues response to Mourinho post and Messi ‘stop joking’ claim | Football | Sport

Cristiano Ronaldo seems to have liked an Instagram post featuring Jose Mourinho championing the Manchester United icon over Lionel Messi. Ever since emerging as two of the globe’s most electrifying talents during the mid-2000s, the footballing universe has split between Messi supporters and those who consider Ronaldo superior.

Their fierce competition reached its zenith following Ronaldo’s departure from United to Real Madrid in 2009, whilst Messi remained at Barcelona. The duo became the outstanding performers for their clubs and consistently battled for La Liga crowns, top scorer accolades and Ballon d’Or honours, with the Portuguese securing five whilst his Argentinian adversary Messi captured a record eight. Currently, both are regarded as beyond their peak years, though Ronaldo, now 40, approaches 1,000 career strikes at Al-Nassr, despite presently being on strike. Conversely, Messi, 38, secured the MLS Cup last year with Inter Miami.

Nevertheless, their devoted followings persist with the endless discussion about who truly represents football’s greatest player of all time. Whilst Messi typically avoids such debates, Ronaldo seems more committed to establishing his own reputation through his interview statements.

The Portuguese striker has apparently now chosen to do precisely that by endorsing an archived social media clip of his fellow countryman Mourinho praising him whilst criticising the Barcelona icon during their time together at Real Madrid. In the footage from 2012, Mourinho elaborates on why Ronaldo faces greater challenges.

He states: “I still say that it is more difficult to be Cristiano than Messi. Messi grew up in the team he plays for, with the team-mates he plays with. Cristiano arrived in England at a giant team in crisis, which was only losing. He had to grow over the last two years with this team under construction.

“Messi plays as a number 9 in about 50 square meters, closer to the goal and with less defensive work. Cristiano, on the other hand, is a winger. How can a winger score the same number of goals as a centre forward?

“A winger who defends, who ends a game in the 94th minute running after Pedro in a goal-scoring situation. A winger who, in set pieces, reaches his own area 20 times because he is very important to the defence. A player who is not protected by anything or anyone… It is much, much harder to be Cristiano, let’s stop joking.”

Despite his clear position at that moment, which could have been influenced by some degree of partiality considering his club and national connections, Mourinho has latterly declined to draw comparisons between the two worldwide icons.

In fact, in a move that would likely irritate the fiercely competitive Ronaldo, he declared in 2025 that neither player at their pinnacle could match the talent and raw brilliance of Brazilian Ronaldo, who previously represented both Barcelona and Madrid.

Mourinho stated: “Ronaldo, El Fenomeno. Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi have had longer careers, they have remained at the top every day for 15 years.

“However, if we are talking strictly about talent and skill, nobody surpasses Ronaldo. Injuries killed a career that could have been even more incredible, but the talent that that 19-year-old boy had was something incredible.”

Meanwhile, the Al-Nassr skipper reinforced his stance last year during his conversation with Piers Morgan that he remains superior to Messi as a footballer. He declared: “Is Messi better than me? I disagree. I don’t want to be humble.”