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🚨 Mourinho on Ronaldo’s rivalry with Messi and how he fought back to make it 5-5 in the Ballon d’Or race: “People look at Messi’s 8 Ballon d’ors and Cristiano’s 5 today, and they forget what happened between 2008 and 2017. I have enormous respect for Messi. Fantastic footballer. But I also have enormous respect for the man who refused to let Messi have the whole stage to himself. Cristiano won his first Ballon d’Or at Manchester United in 2008. Then Messi won in 2009. And 2010. And 2011. And 2012. 4 consecutive years. Do you understand what that does to a footballer? You’re scoring goals, winning matches, working every day, and every December you’re watching the same man collect the award. For most players, after the 3rd or 4th time, they accept it. They say, ‘Okay, he’s the best. Maybe I can be second.’ Not Cristiano. I remember being at Madrid and seeing how personally he took these things. You could congratulate him for scoring twice, and sometimes he’d be more interested in the chance he missed. I’d tell him, ‘Cristiano, we won.’ He’d say, ‘Mister, I know. But I could have scored another.’ That’s the mentality you’re dealing with. When Messi was winning those awards, Cristiano wasn’t sitting there wondering how to become more popular. He was asking himself how to become more dangerous. And look at what happened. 2013, Cristiano wins. 2014, Cristiano wins again. Messi comes back in 2015. Now it’s five against three. People start talking as if the competition is finished. Then Cristiano wins the Champions League and the European Championship in 2016. Another Ballon d’Or. Four against five. In 2017, Madrid win La Liga and another Champions League. Cristiano scores twice against Bayern in Munich, then three in Madrid. Three against Atletico in the semi-final. Two against Juventus in the final. These weren’t goals against teams who had already given up. These were the biggest matches of the season. And in December, he’s holding his fifth Ballon d’Or. Five against five. I want people to understand something. Messi didn’t suddenly become a worse footballer. Cristiano simply refused to stop chasing him. That’s why I laugh when people speak about Cristiano’s obsession with being the best as if it’s a weakness. Of course he’s obsessed. How do you think he got there? And then you have 2018. Cristiano helps Madrid win a 3rd consecutive Champions League. He leaves for Juventus. Luka Modric wins the Ballon d’Or, and Cristiano finishes 2nd. I respect Luka. Wonderful footballer. But you cannot tell me Cristiano had no argument for winning his 6th. People can debate the voting, the importance of the World Cup, the influence of changing clubs. That’s football. But imagine being Cristiano, looking at everything you’ve done, and believing you could have gone ahead for the first time. Of course that stays with you. And I think even Messi supporters, the ones who genuinely love football, understand what Cristiano brought to that rivalry. Messi had somebody who could answer him. When Messi did something extraordinary, there was another man capable of doing something extraordinary the following week. People who didn’t even support Barcelona or Madrid were watching. They were arguing about goals, trophies, records. Some people became football supporters because they wanted to see which one would win. That’s what Cristiano gave the game. You can prefer Messi. You can believe Messi is the greatest player you’ve ever seen. I have no problem with that. But don’t tell me Cristiano was simply fortunate to exist in the same era. He made that era competitive. For 9 years, from his first Ballon d’Or to his fifth, he kept finding another level whenever people thought he had reached his limit. And perhaps that’s the greatest compliment you can give Cristiano Ronaldo. He saw a footballer the world was ready to place above everybody else. And instead of accepting second place, he made the world argue about first.”