Lionel Messi admits that he can never be friends with Cristiano Ronaldo

With the Ballon d’Or award ceremony on the horizon, Cristiano Ronaldo is the odds one favourite to land his fifth title as the Portuguese is expected equal Lionel Messi’s record of five Ballon d’Ors.

It has been an extraordinary journey for these two footballing gods, as the pair have shared the title of the best player in the world over the last decade.

Rivals for so long, Messi and Ronaldo now share a warm relationship that stems out of pure respect for one another.

This was seen at the FIFA awards a few weeks back, when Messi was seen smiling and applauding as Ronaldo went up the stage to pick up his award.

So have these two long term rivals finally become friends? According to Messi though, the pair can never truly become friends.

“I don’t know if we will be. Friendship is built through spending time together and getting to know each other.

“We have no relationship, mainly because we only see each other at awards ceremonies and that’s the only time we speak.

“Everything is fine, but our lives don’t cross over very often.”

“There are many great players around today who can win the Ballon d’Or. In recent years, there have just been two, but now players like Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Luis Suarez can compete for that award.”

While the pair may not be friends, at least their fans can take solace from the fact that they are cordial to each other. Now let’s hope their fans can show the same respect that Messi and Ronaldo show to each other.