Messi not as obsessive as Ronaldo, says Piqué

Lionel Messi

FC Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué believes his teammate Lionel Messi “is not as obsessive” as Cristiano Ronaldo, a player who he said he likes and knows well after his spell at Manchester United, where the Barça man was helped by the Portuguese, Marca reports.

“I like Cristiano Ronaldo. People often draw conclusions based on certain actions without knowing him. He has changed in recent years. I’ve known him since he was at United and got on well with him. He helped me a lot at United”, Piqué told Dutch magazine ‘Voetbal Magazine’.

“Cristiano is an impeccable player and a hard-worker who always wants to improve. He’s very demanding with himself and we saw this at United. The most surprising thing is that, while Messi won four consecutive Ballon d’Or awards, he kept fighting and had the determination to go one better”, the Catalan defender added.

In fact, Piqué recognised he was happy to see Ronaldo win the Ballon d’Or award in 2013: “He deserves it too. Leo (Messi) is different. He has natural talent. Perhaps he is not as obsessive and hard-working as Cristiano, but once the ball is at his feet it’s impossible to get it off him,” he said.

“You might think you can tackle Leo, but he’s a genius, and has been since he was young. He’s the best player in the world”, the defender said on his teammate, who he believes will continue to prosper in the future when he is older as he will adapt better because his game is less physical than Ronaldo’s.