Football star Lionel Messi has made it clear that he is not friends with Cristiano Ronaldo, although they share mutual respect.

In an interview with DSsports, Messi explained that their competition was always about helping their teams win and it stayed within the football pitch.

Messi and Ronaldo were rivals during their time in Spain, where Messi played for Barcelona and Ronaldo for Real Madrid in the famous El Clasico matches.

Now, the two players are in different parts of the world. Ronaldo is playing for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, while Messi is with Inter Miami in the United States.

Messi said, “Our rivalry was only during matches. We never had problems outside the field. We are just regular people when we’re not playing.”

He added that they don’t hang out or talk often. They are not close friends, but they’ve always shown respect to one another.