Evra: 'Messi will win 15 Golden Balls if he works like Ronaldo'
Messi is under a lot of criticism and pressure when he plays poorly in the match PSG lost 0-2 to Bayern in the second leg of the 1/8 Champions League round on the evening of March 8. In the two seasons with the Argentine striker, PSG were eliminated in the round of 16, although the previous two seasons they went to at least the semi-finals. In the four round of 16 matches, Messi did not score or assist, while Kylian Mbappe scored twice, and Neymar assisted twice.
On the occasion of PSG's defeat, Evra talked about how he always valued Ronaldo over Messi in the greatest player debate in history. "I always choose Ronaldo, not because he is a former teammate, brother to me, but because I love Ronaldo's work ethic," the French player said on Rio Ferdinand's YouTube channel FIVE.
According to Evra, Messi is endowed with natural talent, while Ronaldo - although also talented - has to work hard to reach his current position. "If there was a work ethic like Ronaldo, Messi would have won 15 Ballon d'Or. I love people who work hard so that's why I chose Ronaldo over Messi," added the 41-year-old former defender.
Evra played with Ronaldo at Man Utd between 2006-2009, winning three Premier League titles and a Champions League. Previously, Evra joked about not going to the Portuguese striker's house for lunch. "You will have one of the most boring lunches at Ronaldo's house, consisting of salad, chicken and water. Not even carbonated water," he explained.
The former France defender continued: "After that, we went to the garden, did a little exercise, went swimming or sauna. After a while, I turned to Ronaldo and said, 'We just finished training with Man Utd, why? have to go through a second training session?'".
With these statements, Evra once again sparked the debate about whether Ronaldo or Messi is the greatest player in history.
Ronaldo and Messi have compared each other for each goal, individual and collective title records from more than 10 years. They took turns to dominate the Golden Ball from 2008, until Luka Modric won first place in the poll of France Football magazine in 2018. After that, Messi won the Golden Ball 2019, 2021 and became the first player seven times. won this prestigious individual award.
With 709 goals, Ronaldo now scores more club goals than Messi (701). However, the 38-year-old striker played two more seasons than Messi and is wearing the Saudi Arabia Al Nassr club. Meanwhile, Messi is leading the race in terms of assists, with 299 clear lanes compared to Ronaldo's 203. This season, the Argentine star has 16 assists compared to Ronaldo's four.
Messi also scored more goals and played more in the World Cup, but Ronaldo played and scored more in the Champions Laegue. In the end, Messi won more awards and individual trophies, while Ronaldo won three different leagues, in England, Spain and Italy.
There has been an opinion that the debate should be closed, when Messi won the 2022 World Cup, and Ronaldo and Portugal stopped in the quarterfinals. In it, Messi scored seven goals, including a brace in the final and was awarded the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball - the award for the best player in the tournament in Qatar 2022, and won the best player award five times.
