The two stand-out players of the current generation, Messi and Ronaldo have enjoyed a two-way fight to be the best player in the world for over a decade, competing for major honours and individual awards.
The pair constantly traded blows as they battled for Ballon d’Ors and La Liga titles, with Messi scoring 472 times in 476 appearances while Ronaldo scored an incredible 450 goals in 438 games during his nine seasons at the Bernabeu.
Yet Ronaldo left Spain’s top flight in the summer to embark on a new adventure with Juventus in Italy, completing an £88.8million move in July.
Having dominated Serie A for the past seven years, Juve are setting their sights on European glory with five-time Champions League winner Ronaldo drafted in to help end a 23-year wait for contintental glory.
And Ronaldo’s rivalry with Messi is far from over with Barca equally as keen to win the competition this term, although the duo both missed out on the Ballon d’Or in 2018 with Luka Modric claiming the prestigious award.
Discussing their lengthy rivalry, Messi told Spanish newspaper Marca in a wide-ranging interview: “The time we were in the same league and trying to win with our teams was very nice.
"It was a very healthy rivalry in which we both wanted to improve ourselves.
“And it was good for the spectators.”
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi enjoyed a thrilling battle for supremacy in Spain (Image: GETTY)
Lionel Messi relished his competition with Cristiano Ronaldo (Image: GETTY)
It was a very healthy rivalry in which we both wanted to improve ourselves
Lionel Messi
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Real Madrid have struggled without Ronaldo this term and sit eight points adrift of El Clasico rivals Barca in the table.
And Messi admitted: “At the beginning of the season I said they are a great club, one of the best in the world and with a lot of great players.
“But anyone would miss Cristiano. He scores a lot of goals and gives you many other things so it doesn't surprise me.”
Ronaldo finished second in the Ballon d’Or voting earlier this month but Messi was well down in fifth, outranked by Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann as well as winner Modric.
Yet the 31-year-old insists he expected as much, despite having scored 47 goals for Barca in 2018 - more than anyone else.
Cristiano Ronaldo left La Liga to join Juventus in the summer (Image: GETTY)
Lionel Messi came fifth in voting for the Ballon d'Or in 2018 (Image: GETTY)