Before Monday night, the Argentine and the Portuguese both had five Ballon d’Or awards.
In 2017, Ronaldo claimed his fifth one which hurt Messi a bit because he was no longer alone at the top.
Still, the Argentine admits Cristiano’s achievements made sense to him.

Lionel Messi made history on Monday night as he scooped his record-breaking sixth Ballon d’Or. Before Monday night, Messi and his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo shared the same number of Ballon d’Or triumphs with five. The Portuguese scooped his last award in 2017.

Messi told France Football how he felt back then: “On the one hand, I enjoyed having five and being the only one. When Cristiano moved level, I admit that it hurt me a bit. I was no longer alone at the top. But it made sense, although it was good when I was alone at five.”

By the way, the Portuguese failed to attend the gala ceremony on Monday. His absence quickly became a story in the media. Just at the time when Leo Messi was being awarded his sixth Ballon d’Or, the Portuguese was in Italy to claim the award for the Best Player of the Year in Italy.

Cristiano Ronaldo finished third overall in the Ballon d’Or voting, 200 points short of Leo Messi and Virgil van Dijk.