Lionel Messi admits that he wants Cristiano Ronaldo to be still in La Liga

They have been fierce rivals for so many glorious years on the pitch in Spain and Lionel Messi has now confessed that he wanted Cristiano Ronaldo to be still in the league.

Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Juventus last summer under a colossal contract worth 100 million pounds. He ended his nine-year fight for supremacy in Spain with the No. 10 Barcelona.

Messi and Ronaldo are considered two of the greatest players of all time and the Argentinian said he missed Ronaldo against La Liga, insisting that the former Manchester United star brought a "prestige" to the division .

"I miss Cristiano," Messi told FM Club 947 in Argentina. "Even though it was a little difficult to see him win trophies, he conferred a prestige on La Liga.

"Juventus are an excellent candidate to win the Champions League since the arrival of Cristiano and the match against Atleti had to give them a lot of confidence."

Real are 12 points behind Barcelona at the top of the La Liga as they were eliminated from the Champions League in the final leg, while their inability to replace Ronaldo adequately continues to haunt them.

The Barcelona captain then cited a list of players who, in his opinion, are at their peak.

– I do not want to forget anyone, but I think Neymar, [Kylian] Mbappe, [Eden] Hazard, Luis Suarez and [Sergio] Aguero are the best, "he added. "I did not mention Cristiano because I put him aside with me on the list.

Messi also said that he was not 100% fit, just two weeks before facing Manchester United in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

He was moved at the last criticism against him after being pulled out of Argentina 's win over Morocco this week and being returned to Barcelona.

"Someone says what he wants to say about me, then people believe him and I am painted as a b **** son," he said.

"It has become customary to say things about me. They invent things about me when I'm not there. Nothing surprises me.

"The truth is that I returned to the Argentinian team with a pubic injury that I have been wearing since December and that I trained less and did not play in every game.

The wounds of pubs are complicated; you can not shake them overnight. I feel better but I have to take care of myself.

"I wanted to play both matches with Argentina, but after the first game, I had pain and I decided to rest so as not to aggravate the injury. It improves all the time but it is not completely cleared up. & # 39;