La Liga - Ronaldo: Barca better than Real

Eurosport - Tue, 20 Oct 10:10:00 2009

Cristiano Ronaldo believes Barcelona play better football than his Real Madrid side and has tipped Lionel Messi to win the 2009 Ballon d'Or.

FOOTBALLL La Liga Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid / FOTO: IMAGO - 0

The Portugal winger, who joined Real Madrid from Manchester United for a world record 94 million euros in the close season, won the Ballon d'Or last year and was included in the 30-strong shortlist for the award formerly known as the European Footballer of the Year released on Sunday.

"Barcelona play better football (than Real), but why?" the 24-year-old told France Football magazine.

"Because they have been together for several seasons, not two months. Barca are better than us today but the real question is who will be in front at the end of the season?"

The winner of the Ballon d'Or will be announced on December 1 and Ronaldo said that while Xavi and Samuel Eto'o were strong contenders, Argentina's Messi was likely to be the recipient.

"He's the favourite. He won the Champions League, the (Spanish) league. Why not him? If he wins it, he will have deserved it."

Arguably the world's finest player when on song, Ronaldo has been hampered by injury at Real and is struggling to recapture the form he showed at Manchester United.

He said, however, that he was hungry for more titles and felt he had picked the right club to do that.

"I must do again all I managed to do at Manchester, win the Champions League, league and cup titles," he said.

"I'm convinced I'm in the right club to do that. I'm starting a new career, I feel like a baby."

Reuters

Comment 1 - 20 of 20

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  1. goal for eto'o should be the Ballon d'or he can­ score and play defence, he scores nine goal for­ Cameroon.

    From bonnyf, on Sat 31 Oct 2:25AM
  2. Yah Ronaldo is spoken like a real man and a footboller­ who knows the level of his competiters, I think he is­ right, Barca is proving good but we gat to wait for the­ last wistle blow at the end of the sesson.
    From Cliff­ KIU Medical student

    From cliffko, on Fri 30 Oct 2:42PM
  3. Yah Ronaldo is spoken like a real man and a footboller­ who knows the level of his competiters, I think he is­ right, Barca is proving good but we gat to wait for the­ last wistle blow at the end of the sesson.
    From Cliff­ KIU Medical student

    From cliffko, on Fri 30 Oct 2:37PM
  4. same old sh..t...

    From ultrakuldude, on Wed 21 Oct 12:57AM
  5. Úgyis a Loki fog mindent megnyerni idén is, nem értem­ ezeket a cikkeket...

    From Csaba, on Tue 20 Oct 10:20PM
  6. This is god's honest truth, last night for no­ reason whatsoever, I dreamed that ronaldo was sitting­ in a wheelchair.

    From Solly, on Tue 20 Oct 6:49PM
  7. it's all MINDGAMES­ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From Isti, on Tue 20 Oct 2:57PM
  8. ryan slightly better is a soft expression!!!! is much­ better as we all know heading, shooting, running,­ stronger, free kicks etc etc The only thing I do agree­ is that Ronaldo is more individualist than Messi and he­ likes to show off more than Messi does. Messi plays­ more for his team but if we remeber corectly his goals­ are coming after solo efforts not team efforts (same as­ Ronaldo I may say). Feed the ball to me but he did­ score 47 in one season for MU and now 9 goals in 7­ matches for RM!!!! To expect more I should be­ unfair!!!! We might have different views about the­ meaning of complete player: we were talikng about­ complete (his qualities, ability to score etc etc ) not­ about a team player. Maradona, Ronaldo Nazario da Lima,­ Pele even GOD himself (who created the world by­ himself) etc etc etc were all selfish players.­ Don't you think is the attibute for the­ greatest?!?!?!

    From cosmin t, on Tue 20 Oct 12:28PM
  9. It's the footballing performance of the individual­ over the course of a season that determines the winner­ of the best player award and not simply potential, past­ glory or possessing better physical attributes. So no­ doubt Messi would be a deserved winner- just look at­ his overall stats for Barca in 2008/2009 especially in­ a team containing world class performers like Eto, Xavi­ and Inesta. Also despite Argentina just scraping­ through Messi is on the plane to the World cup whereas­ Ronaldo has struggled with Portugual. In fact,­ they've won the last two games pretty well without­ him.

    From A man, on Tue 20 Oct 12:25PM
  10. cosmin t, he might have slightly better physical­ attributes, but messi's mentality is better than­ ronaldo, remember in the champions league final how he­ always went for glory for himself, not for him, messi­ fits in his team, assisting as well as scoring, unlike­ ronaldo: "feed the ball to me and i'll­ score" (which he doesn't do usually), so messi­ is more of a complete player than ronaldo atm

    From ryanho0001, on Tue 20 Oct 12:03PM
  11. thank you bob for your comments. Back to reality!!!! I­ was afraid I am from another planet but i believe there­ are still guys with a sense of reality and­ normality!!!! Maybe Barca, at this moment, is the­ better team (just one change in the first 11 Ibra vs­ Etoo), but I do trust that pellegrini knows the way to­ recapture the glory...... the season is long and until­ may many things can happen.....Hala Madrid!!!!

    From cosmin t, on Tue 20 Oct 11:40AM
  12. I think Messi deserves the winner of the Ballon­ d'Or. Ronaldo has spoken well without attaching any­ sentiment. Barca plays good football, that doesn't­ mean they will top the league at the end of the season.­ That was a mature comment from Ronaldo. Shola Bright.­ Nigeria Port Harcourt.

    From Shola Bright, on Tue 20 Oct 11:36AM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Half a brain?!?!?! you deserve your nickname!!!! are­ you making fun or what with that explanation of messi­ better than Ronaldo: ronaldo has more titles first,­ messi also does not defend don't tell me is like­ puyol!!!!! wtf!!!! we completely lost our minds to say­ messi is better???? Messi has only one leg, ronaldo­ plays with both, his effort capacity is much better, he­ scores with his head see the CL final (messi has done­ it only twice in his career) he is faster, he is­ stronger (body i mean). Personally i am not a big fan­ (on the contrary I am an Argentina fan) but we must­ face the truth!!!!!

    From cosmin t, on Tue 20 Oct 11:31AM
  14. Half a Brain, Ronaldo is a striker so he doesn't­ have to defend, tackle or fight for the ball. And yes,­ he is a more complete player than Messi. He's­ faster, stronger, better at shooting, better at­ heading, better at taking free kicks etc. Just because­ Messi can go past 2-3 players easily and has close­ control doesn't mean he's better than Ronaldo.­ But I admit, he had a good season last season but in­ all fairness, if United had won the Champions League­ Ronaldo would have won the Ballon D'Or again.

    From Bob, on Tue 20 Oct 11:28AM
  15. clement f, how could you even think that Ronaldo is­ more complete than Messi. Ronaldo is a forward who does­ not know how to defend. He is poor in in tackling. He­ does not fight to get the ball back. He seldom sits on­ the left side of the pitch, and he cannot dribble is­ small spaces. Messi can dribble in small space and has­ pace (although Ronaldo is faster). Messi is 10 times­ better than Ronaldo.

    From Half A Brain, on Tue 20 Oct 11:19AM
  16. Seriously, why do sports journalists and commentators­ always say he is trying to re-capture his form. He has­ been playing well, better than kaka anyway...

    From The M, on Tue 20 Oct 11:14AM
  17. I like the way he appears more humble in Real than he­ used to be in Manchester. Of course he couldn't be­ named humble in absolute terms with a straight face.

    From Csaba, on Tue 20 Oct 11:07AM
  18. Ronaldo is a more complete player than Mess

    From clement f, on Tue 20 Oct 11:01AM
  19. "struggling to recapture the form he showed at­ Manchester United" - hasn't he scored 9 goals­ in 7 games?

    From Peter, on Tue 20 Oct 10:30AM
  20. ronaldo deserves to win nothing and yes i agree barca­ are a better team and will put real in there place once­ again this season

    From brysie, on Tue 20 Oct 10:23AM
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