I respect Roldo, but nothing more: Messi

Barcelo, March 2: Barcelo star striker Lionel Messi said there is mutual respect between him and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Roldo, but admitted that their relationship does not go beyond that.

Messi and Roldo are widely considered the best footballers of the modern era, with a continuing debate over which of the two is the greatest.

While Messi believes that they show respect towards one another, the Argenti star stopped short of saying they have a pleasant relationship.

“We are professiols that defend our teams, and rivals in this game, nothing more than that. Sometimes it happens that we win or that we lose. There has always been respect and nothing more,” Messi was quoted as saying by Argentine newspaper El Grafico on Tuesday.

Messi counts seven La Liga titles, three Copa del Reys and four Champions League winners’ medals on his incredible list of achievements with Barcelo, but is yet to taste intertiol success, having been a losing filist in the 2014 World Cup and 2007 and 2015 Copa Americas.

The 28-year-old has 49 intertiol goals to his me and is closing in on Gabriel Batistuta’s record of 57 for Argenti, but Messi insisted it is major honours as opposed to individual accolades that motivate him.

“I prefer to win something with the tiol team. I am not interested in records. They are there, but that does not make you win titles,” Messi concluded. (IANS)