Two football legends and two similar trajectories. Cristiano Ronaldo (35) and Lionel Messi (33) - 11 Ballons d'Or between them - who were thought to be indefinitely attached to their respective club Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have made lie the prognosticators who saw them finish their quarry in the Iberian Peninsula.
If Ronaldo made Manchester United happy before becoming the star of Real, Lionel Messi was the man of only one club when he arrived in Catalonia at the age of 13. The departure of the Argentine to a team for the moment unknown like that of Ronaldo to Juventus Turin in 2018 surprised the football planet. We tell you behind the scenes of the impossible transfer of CR7.
Ego war
When Juventus announced in July 2018 the recruitment of the Portuguese, it was a real thunderclap like what happened for Messi. The Madrilenian has just won a third Champions League in a row under the orders of Zinedine Zidane. But the war of ego between the Madeira native, his agent Jorge Mendes and Florentino Pérez, president of Real, will get the better of the eight-year love affair between the player and the White House. Ronaldo swears that the surprise departure of Zidane a few days earlier had not motivated his choice: “It is one of those little details which confirmed me in what I thought of the situation at the club […] In the absence of make me leave, it didn't hold me back. "
We could apply the same reading grid to the Messi file. The management of the Catalan club by President Josep Bartomeu undoubtedly precipitated the departure of the Argentinian star, but is this the only reason? The repeated underperformance, the announced departure of his friend Luis Suarez and the arrival of Dutch coach Ronald Koeman are others that are quite plausible.
Want a new challenge
During his visit to the Spanish capital, Ronaldo has repeatedly said "wanting to end his career" or "playing until 41 years" at Real Madrid. Words that will not be followed by action, since Juventus attaches the services of the fivefold golden ball for 117 million euros! An amount that seems derisory when we know that in 2014 his departure clause was set at 1 billion euros. “I felt inside the club, especially from the president, that I was no longer considered as at the beginning. The first four or five years, I felt like I was Cristiano Ronaldo. Less after, ”said the player after joining the Old Lady.
With Real Madrid, the Portuguese will have lifted 16 collective trophies including 4 Champions League and 2 Spanish championships. Individually, he gleaned four Ballon d'Ors, or five in total, the first having been won at Man U. Less globetrotter, Messi has only known one home and one league, the Spanish Liga. Two seasons after Ronaldo, the Pulga (the chip, his nickname) is exported and the new country that will welcome him is already rubbing his hands. Ask Juve fans if they regret the arrival of CR7.
