Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best – Messi

Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi, has hailed Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the best footballers on the planet and insists there is no great rivalry between them.

The duo are often compared given their superstar status and positions with Spain’s two great rival clubs: Barcelona and Real Madrid.

But the two players have recently played down any talk of rivalry, Ronaldo recently claiming they enjoy “a very good relationship” and saying he enjoys watching the Argentine in action.

Messi has now returned the favour and praised the Portuguese’s desire to always improve.

“That thing about our rivalry is something more invented by the press than by us,” Messi said to Tencent Sports.

“What we want is to do our best every year, to do the best for our teams and what is spoken from outside is not something I give importance to.

 “He is a phenomenal player who has many qualities that year after year he improves and that is why he is one of the best in the world.”