Gary Lineker celebrated Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as “super human footballers” – after the Barcelona star had scored his 700th career goal.
The BBC sports presenter has long been a fan of Messi’s appearances for his own former club, Barcelona, and often praises the Argentinian’s efforts on social media.
And Lineker was clearly impressed after Messi reached another milestone on Tuesday evening and posted on Twitter: “Messi scored his 700th goal with a Panenka penalty. Could do it in style.”
After receiving lots of responses from Ronaldo fans, the star of the Match of the Day was keen to clarify his point of view.
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He added: “Message to Ronaldo fans: If I tweet about the brilliance of Messi, it doesn’t mean that I don’t admire Ronaldo. Message to Messi fans: If I tweet about Ronaldo, it doesn’t mean that I don’t Do you admire Messi. It is possible to love these two superhuman footballers. Enjoy them both. “
The former English star had previously insisted that the long-standing debate about who the better footballer is between him and Messi is “not even close,” despite being a big Ronaldo fan.
“People are becoming very tribal in many ways, and Messi versus Ronaldo is one of them,” the former English striker told BBC Sport.
“It often seems to be a choice whether you support Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus or whoever is okay – I understand that.
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“I’m also a big Ronaldo fan, but when you talk about the best player ever, there shouldn’t even be a debate about it being Messi. It’s just my opinion, but it’s not even close to me. “
Messi scored his 700th career goal on Tuesday night, but Barcelona’s title hopes suffered a heavy blow against Atletico Madrid.
The striker scored a cheeky penalty in the second half, but Barca could only draw 2-2 in the Nou Camp after two Saul Niguez free kicks held them back twice.
Messi has played 862 games to reach the milestone, but Barca missed the chance to return to the top of the LaLiga and now leave Real Madrid one point behind after playing one more game.
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