Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? Real Madrid legend Marcelo makes emphatic 'die-hard' claim while picking his favorite

Real Madrid legend Marcelo has picked his favorite player between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The retired full-back witnessed both players during their prime, sharing the locker room with Ronaldo at the Spanish capital and mostly playing against Messi at Barcelona.

During a recent interview with DjMaRiiO, Marcelo named Lionel Messi as one of the toughest opponents he faced in his career, while also giving this take on the Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo debate.

“Messi was a real pain. Jesús Navas also made things very difficult for me, and Xabi Prieto was also very hard to defend against. Pedro was also very good. However, I always choose Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi is incredible. We've enjoyed watching both of them, well, I've only enjoyed watching one. I'm a die-hard Cristiano fan,” he said.

This was not the first time that Marcelo has thrown his weight behind Ronaldo. During a livestream on Twitch with streamer Marlon in July, the former Brazilian international was made to choose between Messi and Ronaldo. He hailed both players but ultimately picked his former Real Madrid teammate.

“We are so lucky because we saw both of them (Ronaldo and Messi). We didn't see Pele and Maradona but we saw Cristiano and Messi. I love Cristiano, I played with him but I love to see Messi play. I suffered a lot against Messi, you know? I was there, I'm so lucky. For me, it's Cristiano because I played with him.”

While Marcelo has since retired from the sport, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are still going strong both for club and country. Marcelo and Ronaldo featured alongside each other 333 times and combined for 33 goals. He faced Messi 33 times, but the Argentine legend got the better of him across those meetings, as he won only 10 compared to Messi’s 16.

When Lionel Messi opened up about his relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo

In June, Lionel Messi spoke about his relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo, admitting that he has a lot of respect for his Portuguese rival but that they were not friends. He told DSports:

“I have a lot of respect and admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo and for the career he’s had and continues to have, because he’s still competing at the highest level.

“The competition with him was on the pitch. Each of us wanted to do the best for our team. Obviously, as always, everything stayed on the field. Off the pitch, we are two normal people. We’re not friends obviously because we don’t spend time together, but we’ve always treated each other with a lot of respect.”

The duo last faced off in December 2020, when Juventus beat Barcelona 3-0 in the UEFA Champions League.