At least Ronaldo isn’t bothered that he didn’t win the Ballon d’Or…
Cristiano Ronaldo has commented on an Instagram post criticising the decision to award Lionel Messi a seventh Ballon d’Or, suggesting what was said is a “fact”.
The Manchester United forward, who wasn’t in attendance at the ceremony, watched on as his long-time rival claimed another Ballon d’Or on Monday.
Messi has now won two more Golden Balls than Ronaldo, who last won the prestigious individual accolade in 2018.
Despite an impressive year – where he won the Coppa Italia with Juventus – the Portuguese captain only ranked sixth in this year’s list – behind Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Jorginho, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante.
The former Real Madrid man has also been in scintillating form since his return to Old Trafford in the summer, scoring 10 goals and grabbing two assists in 15 appearances.
While Ronaldo was never truly expected to win this year’s award, an Instagram account named ‘cr7.0_lendario’ was quick to list all of the 36-year-old’s achievements from this term, which includes him breaking the international goalscoring record.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CW39DTOPWTc/
The account also wrote: “43 goals in the year, 6 goals in 5 games in this Champions League, all decisive and a guy who, regardless of age, continues to work miracles and is the guy who most impresses the world most often.
“They still put the guy in 6th… Do you really think that 5 guys did more than him in the year? Never.”
It then added: “For Cristiano to win this prize he has to be 300% unquestionable. It’s no use scoring the most beautiful bike of the year, being champion of everything by club, top scorer of everything and scoring a hat-trick in the World Cup, they still provide a way to take his prize.
“With Messi, it’s the other way around. He can do a low-key season, way below, they’ll always find a way to favour him and give him the prize.”
Ronaldo – who doesn’t follow the account – replied to the post by saying “facts”, alongside a thumbs up emoji.
The Portuguese captain has also been involved in a back-and-fourth war of words with Pascal Ferré, the editor France Football – the publication that hands out the Ballon d’Or.
Ferré claimed that Ronaldo’s only footballing ambition was to “retire with more Ballon d’Ors than Lionel Messi”.
However, Ronaldo took to social media to fire back at those claims, as well as accusations regarding his absence from the award ceremony in Paris.
He said: “Pascal Ferré lied and used my name to promote himself and to promote the publication that he works for. It’s unacceptable for the person responsible for handing out such a prestigious award to lie in this way and to show disrespect to someone who has always respected France Football and the Ballon d’Or.
“He lied again today to justify my absence from the ceremony due to an alleged quarantine that has no reason to exist.”
Ronaldo will be in action when the Red Devils host Arsenal on Thursday night, with caretaker manager Michael Carrick set to remain in charge while Ralf Rangnick awaits his work permit.
Related links:
- Thiago Silva fires back at Paul Scholes after ‘easy’ Cristiano Ronaldo comments
- Michael Owen criticises Man United for Ronaldo ‘abuse’ after Chelsea benching
- Jamie Carragher and Roy Keane clash over Cristiano Ronaldo’s role at Man Utd
