'I played with Lionel Messi at Barcelona – this is what he thought of Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry'

Lionel Messi supposedly paid little attention to the GOAT debate between himself and Cristiano Ronaldo when he was playing for Barcelona, instead focusing on scoring goals and winning titles

Gerard Pique says that Lionel Messi was more focused on winning trophies at Barcelona than his 'GOAT' rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Argentinian spent 17 years at the Camp Nou after rising through the youth ranks of Barca, claiming 10 La Liga titles, seven Copa del Reys and Supercopa de Espanas a-piece. He also racked up four Champions League trophies, largely in part to his 672 goals and 303 assists in 778 games across all competitions.

Thanks to his impressive run of form over almost two decades in Spain, Messi achieved seven of his eight Ballon d'Or accolades with Barcelona, as well as nine La Liga Best Player awards and six European Golden Shoes. While he parted ways with the club in 2021 on a free transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, and then moved to Inter Miami last year, he remains as Barcelona's all-time leading goalscorer, eclipsing Cesar Rodriguez's previous record of 226 goals with ease.

Centre-half and long-term team-mate Pique believes that Messi's long list of titles are a testament to his focus being on leading his former club to glory, as opposed to pipping Ronaldo as the greatest player of all time. Speaking to talkSPORT, Pique claimed: "He wasn’t that type of guy.

"He was very team-focused even though he was getting front page headlines in the newspapers. He was very close with all of us and just focused on winning titles like the Champions League. He was the best and he was winning the Ballon d’Or.

"It wasn’t something that was a priority for him." The GOAT debate grew even more fiery when Ronaldo made the move from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009 in an at-the-time world-record transfer for £80million, challenging Messi for La Liga titles and domestic trophies.

Pique also claims that five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo made the move from the wing to striker when he signed for Los Blancos to help etch his name into the history books, citing how to be the best at Real Madrid you must score goals. He added: "But I assumed that he realised that at Real Madrid, if you want to be the best, you have to score a lot of goals."

Ronaldo and Pique both played under Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, with the Spaniard rising through the youth set-up in 2004 while CR7 was brought in from Sporting CP a year earlier. Following Ronaldo's big money move to Madrid, the now 39-year-old scored 450 goals in 438 appearances, lifted two La Liga titles, Copa del Reys and Supercopa de Espanas a-piece, as well as four Champions League trophies.

He made the move to Juventus in 2018, before returning to United for one last dance between 2021 and 2022. He made the move to Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Nassr last year, and looks to be seeing out his playing days with the Riyadh-based side.

Pique, meanwhile, enjoyed four years with Manchester United between 2004 and 2008, before making the move to Barcelona. After fourteen years with the club as a professional, he hung his boots up in 2022.

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