The whole world witnessed a great match in the UEFA Champions League as Juventus came face to face against La Liga giants Barcelona. And on that match, Cristiano Ronaldo also faced his archrival, Lionel Messi, on the ground after a long time. Although there are lots of speculations about the rivalry of these two greatest, the Portuguese football star just denied his rivalry with his Argentinian counterpart.
Cristiano Ronaldo converted two penalties for the Italian Serie A side Juventus. Besides, Weston McKennie scored another goal for the team to finally seal the deal with a 3-0 score. And with that, Juventus achieved the top spot of the Group G of the UEFA Champions League this season. However, Messi showed his brilliance as usual and had 11 shots with 7 shots on target.
Cristiano Ronaldo says he never saw Lionel Messi as his archrival following the brilliant win of Juventus
Always great to return to Spain and to Catalunya, always hard to play in Camp Nou against one of the best teams I ever faced. Today we were a team of Champions! A true, strong and united family! Playing like this, we have nothing to fear until the end of the season… Let’s go! pic.twitter.com/PivPpJ3SLh
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) December 8, 2020
While talking about Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo said, “I have always had a very cordial relationship with him.” He added, “I shared 12, 13 or 14 years of award ceremonies with him. I never saw him as a rival.” He then said, “He always tries to do what is best for his team and me too. I always got along very well with him.”
Cristiano Ronaldo told Movistar, “We know that in football, for the press, for the show, a rivalry is sought, but I have always gotten along well with him. I see him as always.” He said, “Barcelona are going through a difficult time, but it is still Barcelona.” He then further added, “The truth is that we are very happy, we knew it was an almost impossible mission, it was a complicated mission, and we played well.”
Juventus 3-0 Barcelona | Full Highlights and Goals
CR7 said, “The key was to get into the game well, we scored two early and from there we believed it was possible.” Andrea Pirlo, on the other hand, told Sky Sport Italia, “Ronaldo was very motivated to put in a good performance here against his eternal rival, so when you’re that motivated, it becomes simple.”
The Juventus coach said, “There are many games in a season and it’s easier to get fired up for fixtures like this, but we mustn’t lose sight of the real target, which is Serie A, so we have to be this concentrated and committed there too.” He added, “It was important for our journey that we pick up where we left off in the derby. When you start with that focus, concentration and determination, then the quality emerges.”