Lionel Messi is currently under a lot of scrutiny following his fallout with PSG. Messi is currently facing a two-week suspension after his without-permit holiday in Saudi Arabia. However, as a result of that, Messi is apparently leaving PSG in the summer transfer window, and there are talks of Barcelona and Al Hilal signing him as a free agent. Amid all the chaos, it looks like Cristiano Ronaldo took a dig at Messi in a recent tweet.
Ronaldo is currently a part of Saudi Arabia Pro League team Al-Nassr. He joined the club following his much-publicized exit from Manchester United. Ironically, Al Hilal also plays in the same league. If Messi does join the team, fans may witness the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry once more in Saudi Arabia. However, Messi’s exit from PSG has not been an amicable one.
Paris Saint-Germain fans outside club’s HQ chanting against Leo Messi 🚨😳 #Messi
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 3, 2023
🎥 @CanalSupporterspic.twitter.com/a5011uUklU
Messi joined the club in 2021 and has played two full seasons for it. In both seasons, PSG has been knocked out of the Champions League without even reaching the Quarter Finals.
While PSG won the Ligue 1 in the 2021-22 season and is on its way to winning the league once more in the 2022-23 season, the team’s main goal is to win the UCL. Despite having stars like Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Neymar, the team has failed in winning the UCL.
It certainly brings up the question, is Lionel Messi only suited to Barcelona? PSG fans have been quite unsatisfied with Messi’s performance for their team. Despite his big-money move, it never seemed like Messi was comfortable in the PSG system. In a recent tweet, Ronaldo posted an image of his training in Saudi Arabia and seemingly took a sly dig at Messi’s PSG tenure.
انا_عالمي #ANA_AALAMY
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) May 3, 2023
💛💙 pic.twitter.com/tgmxYeGKN4
In Arabic, he wrote, “I’m global.” Fans can certainly take it as a jab at Messi’s adaptability outside Barcelona’s system, while Ronaldo has won domestic titles in four separate countries in Europe.
Sir Alex Ferguson claims Cristiano Ronaldo is more adaptable than Lionel Messi
Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the greatest, if not the greatest soccer managers of all time. On top of two UCL trophies, he won the Premier League a whopping 13 times with Manchester United. He also made Cristiano Ronaldo the beast that the soccer world currently knows him as. He signed Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 before Ronaldo left for Real Madrid at the end of the 2008-09 season.
Although fans may call him biased for picking Ronaldo over Messi, Sir Alex has his reasons for doing so. Known for having one of the sharpest brains in the sport, the Scottish legend thinks Ronaldo can adapt to any league around the world, while Messi would struggle to play his natural game outside of the possession-based game that Barcelona plays.
In a 2015 interview, Sir Alex claimed, “People say who is the best player in the world? And plenty of people quite rightly say Messi – you can’t dispute that opinion… But Ronaldo could play for Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, Doncaster Rovers, anyone, and score a hat-trick in a game… I’m not sure Messi could do it. Ronaldo’s got two feet, he’s quick, great in the air, he’s brave – Messi’s brave, of course. I think Messi’s a Barcelona player.” (h/t via Tribuna)
There is certainly some merit to this claim as well. While playing for Manchester United, Ronaldo had 145 goals and 64 assists. During his time in Madrid, he netted 450 goals with 131 assists. At Juventus, CR7 had 101 goals and 22 assists. In Sporting, as a teenager, Ronaldo scored 5 goals with 6 assists. Lastly in Al-Nassr, Ronaldo has scored 12 goals with 2 assists.
As for Messi, he scored 474 goals and registered 216 assists at Barcelona. For PSG, he managed a mere 21 goals with only 30 assists. Although it does not necessarily prove Sir Alex right, it does beg the question, can Messi thrive without the familiar settings of Camp Nou? Only time will tell.