Lionel Messi’s triumph at the 2023 Ballon d’Or ceremony caused quite a stir on social media, even for Cristiano Ronaldo. The Argentine claimed his eighth Ballon d’Or since winning his first in 2009, thanks to the role he played in helping Argentina secure their first World Cup win since 1986.
Cristiano Ronaldo was indirectly vocal about the supposed bias of the Ballon d’Or award and reacted to a video criticizing Lionel Messi’s eighth Ballon d’Or win. Due to his influence online, Ronaldo’s reaction to the video has shaken the entire soccer community.
Cristiano Ronaldo liked and laughed at video criticizing Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo has never hidden the fact that he and Lionel Messi are eternal rivals. The pair dominated the Ballon d’Or race for almost a decade from 2007 to 2017, with Luka Modric breaking the monopoly in 2018 when he won the award for the first time. The rivalry between the two players continues to exist despite not playing in the same league or even the same continent.
Cristiano Ronaldo expressed his distaste for the supposed bias surrounding Lionel Messi’s triumph at the 2023 Ballon d’Or ceremony, which saw the Argentine playmaker beat Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe to the award.
The Al-Nassr forward liked a video criticizing the choice of Messi for the 2023 Ballon d’Or, which was solely centered around favoritism during the World Cup, which saw Messi score four penalty goals.
“Hello friends, what we knew was consumed. Messi was going to be given the Ballon d’Or again,” Tomas Roncero, a famous journalist, said in his analysis.
Ronaldo did not just stop at liking the post. The former United striker went ahead to comment with emojis of laughter, making it known to everyone he believed the award show had been manipulated.
The journalist went on to say that Messi truly deserved only 5 of the 8 Ballon d’Or awards he has. He claimed one was taken from Haaland, Xavi/Iniesta, and Lewandowski.
These conspiracy theories did not stop Adidas from honoring Lionel Messi with 8 golden rings, with each representing every time the little magician has won the Ballon d’Or.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction to crowd chanting ‘Lionel Messi’
Cristiano Ronaldo must have gotten used to the opposition crowd chanting his rival’s name by now. This happened again when Al-Nassr hosted Al-Ettifaq a day after Lionel Messi claimed his eighth Ballon d’Or award.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was riled up throughout the match but got the last laugh when Sadio Mane scored the winner in the closing stages of the second extra time to give Al-Nassr a hard-fought 1-0 win over Steven Gerrard’s men in the King Cup of Champions.
Ronaldo celebrated the goal with Mane by signaling to the opposition crowd to shut up, and Sadio Mane followed suit. They both held their fingers up to their mouth, with Mane pointing at Cristiano Ronaldo, supposedly claiming he was still the best.
Messi’s Ballon d’Or victory came a few days after his former manager at PSG claimed Cristiano Ronaldo was “still the best player in the world.”
The crowd reaction was only one of the talking points from the match, as two players got sent off in the heated game. In the end, Mane won the game for Al-Nassr to help his team through to the semi-final of the King Cup of Champions.
Who will claim next year’s Ballon d’Or?
