Cristiano Ronaldo jabs Xavi: He's 'won it all, but never Ballon d'Or'
Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi enjoyed plenty of battles during their days at Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively, and now that flame has been reignited with a war of words in the Spanish media.
Xavi, the longtime Barcelona captain who left the team to join Al-Sadd in Qatar last summer, made some comments about the never-ending Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi earlier this week on Spanish radio. It's little surprise what side of the fence Xavi stands on when it comes to that debate, but here's what Xavi said to Cadena SER, via Marca:
"Ronaldo is a player of his time. The problem is that there is another who has been pretty much the best player in history.
"Ronaldo is extraordinary but compared to Messi, for me and for everyone who likes football, there can be no comparisons.
"Messi will be number one until he wants [to stop]. He's superior to everyone and is the best in the world, unless you are Real Madrid."
Ronaldo, 31, caught wind of those comments, and let's just say the 2016 UEFA Best Player in Europe was quick to go ahead and dismiss what Xavi had to say, via Goal.com's Ben Hayward.
"Xavi is playing in Qatar or I don't know. Anyone who wants a front page talks about me. He has won it all, but never Ballon d'Or."
There are few players out there that can go toe-to-toe with Ronaldo in the trophy department, but 36-year-old Xavi is certainly one of them. As Ronaldo truthfully points out, Xavi is sans Ballon d'Or, while Ronaldo has three. Then again, Ronaldo has never won a World Cup, but Xavi won it in 2010.
Just like the Messi vs. Ronaldo debate, there are points and conceivable checkmates to be made on both sides.
When two of the world's greatest lock horns it's usually worth watching, but when it drags out into a mud fight it's not a good look for anyone.
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