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00:04We haven't had you both together for a while so while you're both here we
00:08noticed you've been talking a lot. Do you miss him?
00:18Messi versus Ronaldo. There's simply been nothing like it in football history.
00:24Messi and Ronaldo completely changed the game.
00:26It is the other one! The strength, the passion, the fierce
00:31polarization made this a unique rivalry. That goal scoring record is just phenomenal.
00:37Lionel Messi shows his genius bicycle kick from Ronaldo!
00:42They have that obsession that lives and breathes inside of them.
00:45They made the impossible feel like it was possible.
00:51The Ballon d'Or became a private competition.
00:54Bravo!
00:55It was an unbelievable fight with them.
00:57They became the most followed people on social media.
01:00For the first time the world divided itself with players.
01:05You've got them over there for Messi, them over there for Cristiano.
01:08Messi the goal!
01:09Messi and Ronaldo have achieved a level of fame that even presidents and popes have never matched.
01:14We shared the stage for 15 years. The same two guys. So it's not easy.
01:21They are special. It's not normal to be on this level all these years.
01:30The question is, how have they shaped an entire era of football just by being at each other's throats?
01:37It will be difficult to see something like this ever again.
01:55Good evening from the Nou Camp for what everyone hopes is a breathless night of excitement in the Champions League.
02:01It's Barcelona against Manchester United. Ronaldo and Rooney against Messi and Deco.
02:08Back in 2008, football was desperate for a superstar.
02:14The era of the Brazilian Ronaldo, David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane had passed.
02:20We were waiting for a new generation of star to emerge.
02:24That's right when Messi and Ronaldo came along.
02:28In 2008, semi-finals of the Champions League, that was the first time Cristiano and Messi faced each other on
02:36the pitch.
02:37Rooney then with a corner, and it comes into the centre, diving head from Ronaldo, shouts for handball, it's a
02:42penalty!
02:44At 20 and 23, Messi and Ronaldo are already lauded as the best young players in the world,
02:49but we haven't yet reached that point at which they are incontestably the elite of world football.
02:56100,000 pairs of eyes looking down on Cristiano Ronaldo.
03:00Oh, and he's put it wide! He hit the stanchion and it's bounced away!
03:03We were starting to see the beginnings of the rivalry in terms of how people talked about
03:07Ronaldo's physical prowess versus Messi's skill as a dribbler.
03:16They were such different characters.
03:20Two players who have absolutely everything in the world at their feet.
03:25Full-time in the new camp. Barcelona 0-0, Manchester United 0-0.
03:30Cristiano was the first player that I saw take different components of what makes a footballer great.
03:37He had that obsession with being at the top. He wanted to be the best player in the world.
03:45Messi was one of our key players. We needed him at that time.
03:58He had an offensive agressiveness that I've never seen in my life.
04:02It was the feeling of, and I'm going to cut you again and I'm going to throw you a goal.
04:08In the second leg, played at Old Trafford.
04:12Horse goals scored the only goal, and Manchester United went on to the final.
04:15Manchester United are through to their Champions League final, their dearest place!
04:20You could see that Messi's already the best in La Liga, and Cristiano the best in the Premier League.
04:25And to see those two kids on the pitch together was the sign of something to come.
04:45I never met a young player that was so confident in knowing what he wanted.
04:53The moment he came to Manchester United, it was just for him a logical step to become the best footballer
04:58in the world.
04:59Yeah, I know.
05:01None of us had really played with anybody like that before.
05:06So Alex Ferguson said to some, we're building a team now around the likes of myself, Wayne Rooney as well.
05:13And Cristiano was the heartbeat.
05:16Moving to Manchester United was huge for a young boy.
05:19You don't know the language, you don't know the culture, you've got these huge characters in a dressing room.
05:25For Cristiano, that was a massive challenge.
05:29There's enormous talent there.
05:31He's not fazed by anything.
05:33Every dressing room, particularly that Manchester United dressing room, is a school of hard knocks.
05:38The most common phrase would have been that he played as something of a show pony.
05:44Sir Alex Ferguson was the key.
05:50He took him under his wing. It was tough love at times, but it was also, I really care about
05:56you.
05:57The most important message was, Cristiano, you are a special player, you can do special things.
06:05However, it is important that those special things are put towards the team, that we benefit from it all together.
06:13He changed his playing style and realised it wasn't about putting the camera on him and his step-overs all
06:20the time.
06:22He embraced everything that would make him a better player.
06:27Here he comes.
06:28Oh, it's absolutely magnificent!
06:31Bringing him from somebody who could score a goal, to a goal-scorer.
06:36He went from being a gawky, bambi, not too sure on his legs, to being the dominant alpha male at
06:43Manchester United.
06:46In 2008, we won the Premier League, but you need to do it in the Champions League to be cemented
06:51as a great team.
07:00If you get your hands on that trophy, you elevate yourself then to be part of the elite.
07:08Brown and Scholes linking up down this near side. Brown with a left-footed ball!
07:12Oh! Cristiano Ronaldo heads Manchester United into the league!
07:18And for Cristiano, on top of that, he wanted to be the best player in the world.
07:25Van der Sar denies Anelka, Manchester United once again become Champions of Europe.
07:33He didn't want us to be saying it, which we were. He's the best in the world, he's the best.
07:40He wanted it to be confirmed. It's very beautiful.
07:43To be part of history, which is that Ballon d'Or.
07:46The Ballon d'Or represents the confirmation that you are the best in the world.
07:52Bravo!
07:55When he won that, you could see that it was like,
07:58I should win it, I deserve to win it, I'm the best.
08:02And that kick-starts the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry.
08:06For the next ten years, the award is shared by either Ronaldo or Messi.
08:14Every year, the question is, will it be Messi, or will it be Ronaldo?
08:33Well, guys, we are going in.
08:35Today, the economic crisis in which Cristiano Ronaldo was born,
08:37the idea of a tough time.
08:41It was a tough time at that time.
08:43It was a tough time.
08:44But in that time, it was a pretty fun time.
08:45I just have a happy childhood.
08:45because he found in football a space of fun and good disposition
08:50that he was happy during the whole day.
08:55We started training with Cristiano with nine years at the National.
09:00It was easy to see that there was a kid who distinguishes the rest.
09:08He was a leader, whether it was inside or outside,
09:12whether it was inside or outside or outside.
09:16I know that he liked to play football.
09:19He hated losing, even in a small game.
09:23It was all competition for Cristiano.
09:30Messi grows up in a town called Rosario.
09:32His father works an industrial job and he comes from a very modest background.
09:36Very early on, the legend of Messi spreads unbelievably quickly.
09:42Everyone knows about this kid with, like, magnets in his boots.
09:45I don't know.
09:48He's a very competitive guy who wants to win everything.
09:54It was a general comment from the neighborhood
09:57to that kid who said he was going to be the future Maradona.
10:02And pretty soon, he lands on the radar of Barcelona.
10:06He's really nice.
10:07He's playing there playing Barcelona.
10:09He's playing the biggest club in the world.
10:13Before it was not that normal seeing someone coming from so far away at such a young age.
10:20We all thought, wow, this boy must be something really special.
10:36In 2008, Pep Guardiola became the manager of Barcelona.
10:40And the career of Messi changed from that moment on.
10:47I don't like too much to talk about building around one guy, but we had that Ronaldinho.
10:55He's the number 10 in Barcelona.
10:58The number 10.
10:58They are the leaders and they are the top guys.
11:03We could see that Leo was coming and there is only one number 10 in a team.
11:10Messi was completely in awe of Ronaldinho.
11:16Ronaldinho puts his arm around Messi and says,
11:20would you take a number 10 shirt for me?
11:24Because I'm going to leave.
11:25No, no, no, no, number 10, that's you.
11:28He just looks like a kid amongst his heroes.
11:30He's only 18 of them.
11:31He had tears in his eyes.
11:33That is a moment where he had to say goodbye to something that made him happy,
11:36but realized wasn't going to make him the best that he could be.
11:42First season of Pep as a coach,
11:44he was thinking he is the best.
11:46He's going to make us win.
11:48And we could build around him.
11:59I think that Pep for Leo used the qualities of Leo
12:05in a much more intelligent way
12:07and where he could mark even more, if there is, the difference.
12:12You look at every single player in every single position
12:15and every single player on the bench in that Barcelona side.
12:18They all played this incredible system, but it was all about Messi.
12:25The last Clásico of Pep Guardiola's first season was set up almost as a final.
12:29The stakes couldn't be higher.
12:30And a way win would pretty much clinch the league title for Guardiola and Messi.
12:37Pep em diu si em puc esperar que vindrà el Leo
12:40que li vol comentar una sèrie de coses a veure si ell s'ho sent pel Bernabéu, no?
12:45Jo me'n recordo que va dir tingues l'ordinador preparat
12:49perquè vindrà el Leo i vull parlar amb ell.
12:54Pep has got a eureka moment.
12:57There's a gap between the midfielders of Real Madrid
12:59and the centre-backs of Real Madrid.
13:01And he thought, what if we switch and put Messi
13:04not on the centre-forward but in the midfield
13:07with the 30 metres to run.
13:10That day, I think, changed the history of football,
13:14the history of FC Barcelona and the history of Messi.
13:21Messi in midfield.
13:23False name.
13:28Todo este engranaje hacía que Leo fuera incluso mejor.
13:33The 2008-2009 season ends with both Lionel Messi
13:37and Cristiano Ronaldo winning the league title.
13:39And this really cemented their place as star players
13:42at two of the world's biggest clubs.
13:49Everybody is calling this final Messi vs Ronaldo.
13:52What do you expect from that encounter?
13:54Both are marvellous players.
13:56For Manchester, Ronaldo is very important.
13:59For us, Messi is very important.
14:01The most important thing is we're going to try a good game.
14:05In 2009, the Champions League final,
14:09you could see that there was a game that could define an era.
14:13England vs Spain.
14:15Barcelona against the huge Manchester United.
14:20Messi and Ronaldo.
14:22At that particular time, I think there was no other contest
14:25in the world of football than Messi and Ronaldo.
14:28Rooney, van der Sarat, perdin an era.
14:31Giggs, Cristiano...
14:33Era un equipàs del United, no era un equip qualsevol, no?
14:37Que teòricament era el favorit.
14:42The final, yeah, I remember.
14:45I was shaking with Cristiano the first 15-20 minutes.
14:49I was like, oh my God, no?
14:51Here's the world player of the year, Cristiano Ronaldo,
14:54for the first time with the ball at his feet.
14:58Here it goes, Valdez! Scrapes it out!
15:00The more 15 minutes were from United, totally.
15:04And Ronaldo shoots from distance.
15:06Barcelona couldn't get control of Cristiano Ronaldo.
15:09If Cristiano had the pilot, it was a feeling of danger.
15:14Ronaldo shot right across the face.
15:18Pep Guardiola decided to use again the false nine,
15:22but not from the beginning.
15:24After ten minutes, Eto'o and Messi swap.
15:28Barcelona eased their way back into the match,
15:30and Eniesta's running at the United defence for the first time.
15:33Lays the ball off to Eto'o.
15:34Eto'o's gone through the challenge!
15:35Eto'o shot!
15:36And it's gone in off!
15:37And it's all!
15:39We were ready for Messi, yeah, we thought.
15:42But this was a different Messi.
15:47Xavi, Valprofessor de novo buscando l'area de los ingleses.
15:50Que buen balón, Messi!
15:51Goal!
15:52Scorn!
15:52With a header!
15:53The smallest player in the bit!
15:55Lionel Messi makes it Barcelona 2!
15:59Manchester United 2!
16:00El Barça's campeón!
16:02Y el Leo ya va ser fundamental, no?
16:11There is a sense now that this establishes Messi as the best player in the world.
16:20In that final, we could see that Cristiano was there, on the top, and Leo was coming.
16:37In that final is when the world realized, oh my God, what is going to happen here?
16:43Are you going to stay at Man United, or are the rumors about you going through?
16:47I don't know.
16:50I spoke to him a lot about staying at Man United, because he's that jewel in the crown.
16:56Come on man, please.
16:57And he was like, I've dreamed about playing for Real Madrid.
17:01Manchester United's gold scoring, money making machine.
17:05Ronaldo is sold for a world record fee.
17:08He's heading to Madrid for 80 million pounds.
17:11He's a one man business plan.
17:13The city was just buzzing, knowing that this megastar is coming in.
17:21He's the best of the world.
17:22More than Messi, more than Kaká, and more than anyone.
17:2780,000 people were allowed to flood into the Bernabeu.
17:32Cristiano Ronaldo!
17:35Ronaldo's move to Real Madrid is one of the most influential transfers in history.
17:38This has reached a level, an enormity, that we've never seen before.
17:50There is no doubt that being in the same league changed everything.
17:56It was a motivation for all Barcelona players, no?
17:59To beat Real Madrid, to beat this Real Madrid with Cristiano.
18:03That's never ever happened in the history of the game,
18:05where the two best players in the world were actually in the same league,
18:09fighting for the same titles.
18:11In Spain, you've got two huge teams, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
18:18These two incredible arch-rivals.
18:22You knew that this rivalry was about to be turbocharged.
18:38You knew that Chris had a hat-trick on Saturday,
18:43and on Sunday, he played for the Barça,
18:44and Leo had a hat-trick as if nothing.
18:48Even though it was one of the best seasons of Real Madrid in the history of La Liga,
18:52it was just not enough to beat Barcelona.
18:55Yes, he kills it!
18:56Oh!
18:59Brilliant!
19:01Barcelona were playing a brand of football which was electric,
19:04and it was adored.
19:06There's Messi!
19:08Messi can mark the fourth!
19:10Goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal!
19:14Even Real Madrid fans would admit that that Barcelona,
19:182008, 2010, it was impossible to stop.
19:25Messi seemed to be winning hands-down to Cristiano Ronaldo,
19:28which, of course, Cristiano hated.
19:30I want to give up for Xavi and André,
19:34who, despite that they won the Premier League,
19:36they deserve it.
19:38That was a moment of recognition that Real Madrid had to act.
19:46They needed to do something big
19:47to be able to rival Barcelona and Messi.
19:51The self-styled special one.
19:54Jose Mourinho will be introduced
19:55as the new Real Madrid coach on Monday.
19:58Mourinho has left...
19:59Jose Mourinho had won the treble with Inter in 2010.
20:04He was a man who understood how to defeat that style of play
20:07that was so tremendous under Pep Guardiola.
20:11He knew that this was the moment where the excitement,
20:15the fun was about to begin.
20:17It was the perfect storm.
20:24When Barcelona play Real Madrid,
20:26it's called El Clásico.
20:28Towards the end of Mourinho's first season,
20:30we get an opportunity for Real Madrid
20:32to turn the tables on Barcelona.
20:34You get four Clásicos in just 18 days.
20:39This period of time became almost more important
20:43than politics, than culture, than anything.
20:46Everything was related to football,
20:47this big fierce rivalry.
20:51For Cristiano was Leo, and for Leo was Cristiano.
20:54I need to beat this guy.
20:55Welcome to a resplendent Bernabeu.
20:58The scene for tonight's El Clásico encounter.
21:01One was the passion,
21:02and the other was what led to those games.
21:08You couldn't do four passes followed.
21:10It was a loss or another loss.
21:12The referee has pointed to the spot.
21:15And it's a red card for Raúl Albiol.
21:20Jose Mourinho wanted the Real Madrid players
21:23to think that Barcelona were the enemies.
21:27The two were the Champions League,
21:29the two were the Champions League,
21:30the two were the Champions League,
21:31the two were the Champions League,
21:31the league,
21:32the Messi versus Cristiano,
21:36and it was all much more,
21:37much more strong.
21:41The first of four El Clásico
21:44over 18 days ends one apiece.
21:47El Clásico is always a special game.
21:53When you go around the city, the fans say to you, we need to win, this match is too important
22:00for us.
22:05Cristiano Ronaldo!
22:07Cristiano Ronaldo!
22:15It was a complicated game where it was the Barça and we were able to do football.
22:26I'm really happy for that title, but we had to suffer from those years.
22:38I remember being fed up of El Clásico because it became a bit toxic.
22:44Mourinho is there to try and create an environment that allows his team to compete and that involves this kind
22:50of psychological warfare.
22:51It is to criticize the goal of the opponent.
22:55It was the way Mourinho wanted to heat the environment.
23:01I had never seen this. I had never seen the football world.
23:04His mentality, his way of being, wanting to take the player to the best.
23:10What happened in the semifinals of the Champions League was that Pep Guardiola was drawn in.
23:14In this room, he is the ****** chef, the ****** amo, he is the one who knows the world.
23:19I don't want to compete in one instant.
23:21That time I think it should have been more about the football players and it was not.
23:26It was more about the managers.
23:27Tomorrow, at 8.45, we face here in the field.
23:31The Catalan against the Spaniards, the Madrid-Barcelona.
23:34Out of the field, he has won.
23:37I give him a special championship out of the field.
23:39Aixecuen tots els jugadors, però per ells sols ningú els va dir, aplaudint-e'l.
23:45I crec que va ser molt important en aquell moment.
23:54Game starts, Pep Guardiola gets sent off.
23:57Real drama here in this Champions League semi-final first leg.
24:01Jose Mourinho gets sent off.
24:04You've got this elevation of this rivalry. Teams, managers, players.
24:10And, of course, it's the goals that those players will score that will define it.
24:20Barcelona scored! It's Lionel Messi who scores from close range.
24:25Leo ha preferido mantenerse un segundo grado, en segundo plano, y ahora en el campo.
24:36Messi now runs through the entire defense, into the penalty area.
24:39He shoots, he scores, it's 2-0. Lionel Messi shows his genius again.
24:45Aquellos estaban a 100%.
24:48Si vos no estabas a 120, era muy difícil poder pararlos.
24:54Iniesta, and there is space there, and he plays it through brilliantly for Pedro, who scores for Barcelona.
25:01And that must be Barcelona going to Wembley.
25:06That drama of the four Clascos in just 18 days really elevated the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry,
25:13not just in Spain, but everywhere.
25:16The ball played between Xavi and Iniesta once more.
25:19Messi's available, Messi gets the ball now.
25:21Scourge forward.
25:22Never cut!
25:23What a goal!
25:25Wembley, la manera va ser espectacular.
25:29And Leo Lleó, in front of the world, if someone had doubts,
25:33he would understand that he was the best player in the world.
25:35The Barça is the champion of Europa!
25:43I remember standing on the pitch and just going,
25:45we just need to get off there.
25:46Because they took our soul, basically.
25:48And Messi was the main ingredient.
26:00That year is the confirmation of Leo saying, guys, I'm here.
26:04Messi is...
26:05...es único.
26:07It's irrepetible.
26:09For so long, it was all about Barcelona.
26:11It was all about Lionel Messi winning all the Ballon d'Ors.
26:14Leo, Leo, Leo, Leo!
26:16It was time for Ronaldo to make a difference.
26:25Messi and Ronaldo are always presented as so different, but the things that forged them in their childhood are incredibly
26:30similar.
26:33Very early on, both Messi and Ronaldo realized that football is the best thing that they could offer to the
26:39world, to themselves, to their families, no matter what the consequences.
26:53That first year in Barcelona, because of red tape and injuries, Messi hardly plays that season.
27:00His sister wasn't adapting.
27:02His brother, Matias, he had a girlfriend back in Rosario.
27:05And the whole family sits around the table and they say to the 13-year-old, Messi, what do you
27:11want to do?
27:12And Leo said, I want to succeed.
27:15I want to be a professional player.
27:17The consequences of that, mom has to take back to Rosario his sister and his two brothers, and his dad
27:25has to stay with him.
27:26So the family has to split.
27:28I'm not sure as a 13-year-old you realize what you've just done there.
27:32Often he would go into his room and put his head under the pillow and cry.
27:37And he did that so his dad didn't hear him cry.
27:41Because of his decision, now it was his time to deliver.
27:48Cristiano Ronaldo was 12-13 years old to Lisboa.
27:55And even the first year of Cristiano, in Alvalade, he didn't work very well.
28:00He was young, he had 12 years old, he was alone.
28:03He was on the pronunciation, he had the saudades of his family,
28:06who had never been together for so long.
28:08And he started to feel sad.
28:13The mother of Ronaldo was, in fact, the great support, not only financially, but also from the family's point of
28:21view.
28:25Dolores grew up in poverty, but he was determined to guarantee that Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of the family
28:31would not have difficulties.
28:34Dolores left his children back and moved alone to Paris.
28:39Dolores Cristiano Ronaldo's mom is a phenomenon.
28:43She didn't just show him love and protect him and give him the freedom to move to Lisbon aged 12.
28:50She demonstrated him that survival, that being the best version of yourself is relentless.
28:55Morning, noon and night.
29:02Football for Ronaldo was a way out of poverty.
29:05I will use this skill I've got, I will use this ball.
29:09That brings a pressure, but it's not a crushing pressure.
29:11For Ronaldo particularly, it's an incentive.
29:18They both go to a place that tells them,
29:21we're going to take your talent and make you even greater.
29:24That promise seems appealing, but it's a huge gamble.
29:30So, that moment of total commitment is when they realize,
29:35okay, this is not kid stuff anymore.
29:37If I'm going to be the greatest of all time, this is where it begins.
29:43Ronaldo played an extraordinary role in Real Madrid's title victory in 2011-12.
29:56Cristiano Ronaldo's 42nd goal of the season.
30:00It was incredible what the Barça was at that time,
30:04but we had our ways to fight against that.
30:08Real Madrid, La Liga champions.
30:10For Cristiano beating Messi was certainly a target.
30:17The rivalry, the desire for supremacy was again stepped up a notch.
30:23We play better than them this year, I'm sure about that.
30:26Every year, your numbers keep going up.
30:28Every year, Leo Messi's numbers keep going up.
30:32How tired, though, are you of being compared with Messi every day?
30:36You cannot compare Ferrari with the Porsche or, you know,
30:38it's different in Jane.
30:43So, are you better than him now this season?
30:45Some people say I'm better, the other people say it's him.
30:48But, you know, at the end of the day, they're going to decide who is the best player in the
30:53moment.
30:55Which is, I think, it's me.
31:00I'm very proud to give the Ballon d'Or in 2012 to Lion Messi.
31:05Despite Real Madrid's title victory in 2011-12,
31:11Leo Messi won the Ballon d'Or again.
31:16Leo Messi had become not this upstart who'd been on the podium
31:20when Cristiano Ronaldo won his Ballon d'Or at Manchester United.
31:23He'd become dominant.
31:26At the time in the media, there was a very clear division in how they were seen.
31:33Messi is essentially the good guy and Ronaldo is the bad guy.
31:38At the same time, Facebook and Twitter and later Instagram are really starting to grow.
31:43If they do something special on the field, that can be shared instantly on social media.
31:49It really pushes this rivalry further.
31:52And so their legend can grow even among people who have never seen a complete match in La Liga.
31:57They see 30 seconds and that is enough for them to know,
32:01okay, these guys are different, this is something for me and I prefer this one.
32:06It wasn't so much, oh, isn't it great that we have Messi and Ronaldo at the same time?
32:10It's more like, I'm a Ronaldo fan or I'm a Messi fan.
32:13Everyone had an opinion.
32:15This highlights that shift in modern sports where people love supporting players, not just the club.
32:23Messi was seen as the natural genius.
32:25Barcelona took on some of that characteristic as the sort of purveyors of football purity.
32:30Real Madrid took on a lot of Ronaldo's characteristics, which are his ambition, his striving for greatness.
32:36Cristiano Ronaldo!
32:37It was Real Cristiano against FC Messi.
32:41This arriving era of social media is literally perfect for Cristiano Ronaldo.
32:49Ronaldo joined Instagram first in 2012 and Messi followed them 10 months later in 2013.
32:56But Ronaldo at that time is joining a platform that is simply photo sharing.
33:03Ronaldo began to rebrand himself.
33:05He looked at how much he allowed people to see his life, what aspirational values he shared.
33:12He's showing his personal life, his training regime.
33:17This was a glimpse into his real world in a way that footballers and athletes before had never really had
33:22the chance to express themselves directly to fans.
33:25It was specifically targeted at convincing people he was a good guy.
33:36Real Madrid became a perfect foil for the person Ronaldo wanted to be seen as.
33:43Ronaldo!
33:44Messi was best before but now it's Ronaldo time.
33:47Cristiano Ronaldo.
33:48The cumulus of the off-the-pitch marketing and his on-pitch exploits gave him that 2013 Ballon d'Or.
33:57And it was vital to him.
33:59Good evening.
34:01Thank you very much.
34:10The heartbeat of everything that he does is about the team.
34:13And he knows that something that comes hand in hand with that, if he does produce the goods, he's the
34:18personal one of us.
34:19And he's not ashamed in saying that.
34:21He's a man who wants to be remembered forever.
34:24Without any doubt.
34:312014 was an opportunity for Ronaldo to take the upper hand with Madrid's obsession, the Decima, the 10th European Cup.
34:39Real Madrid don't simply think they invented the Champions League.
34:44They think they own it.
34:46And so the 10th, the Decima becomes an absolute obsession.
34:54This was an opportunity, of course, for Ronaldo, not just to win the European Cup, not just to end Madrid's
34:59desperate search for this 10th European Cup, but to cement himself as the central figure.
35:10And when it came to the final, it was Cristiano Ronaldo with a goal, with an assist.
35:17He was at the heart of everything, the image of Real Madrid's European Cup success.
35:35People are celebrating in the dressing room. The trophies getting passed around. Then I saw a small group of players,
35:42Marcelo, Pepe, Fabio Contral and Cristiano.
35:46I had to ask Cristiano, what are you talking about? Because I don't speak Portuguese. And he said, we're talking
35:51about next year, we have to go and win it again.
35:56And I just thought, wow, that is the difference.
35:59Are you the best footballer in the world right now?
36:02I think so, yes. In my mind, I'm always the best.
36:05Maybe in your opinion, Miss is better than me, but in my mind, I'm better than him.
36:09So it's simple.
36:12When the entire world is telling you you're the greatest of all time, at some point you start to believe
36:16it.
36:17And both of them believed it.
36:20There's a genuine animosity that begins to grow.
36:23They didn't acknowledge each other that much.
36:26They hated comparison.
36:34In any moment, what Cristiano does to try to be better than him or compare me to him.
36:41Cristiano gave him a plus, a plus to overcome himself.
36:50In 2014-15, with the arrival of Luis Enrique as manager, would be the moment that Messi came back to
36:57the fore.
36:59Messi is now playing with Neymar on one side, Luis Suarez inside.
37:03And this is the beginning of what's known as the MSN.
37:06Messi into the penalty, shoots, blocked with the goalkeeper, snapped into the head!
37:11Luis Suarez has got the goal and they have won the Champions League for Barcelona.
37:16It was all about Messi in the building.
37:18The season after Ronaldo has won a European Cup, what's the way to respond to that? There's only one way.
37:24The Champions League is the most difficult competition in the world.
37:27To win that is when you can say, I'm the best in the world.
37:38Both of them, whether they would like to admit it or not, was fiercely driven by the idea of becoming
37:42the best.
37:46Yo, Leo Messi, lo conozco con 16 años.
37:50Es una persona muy tímida, es una persona que le cuesta expresar lo que piensa, lo que siente.
37:58Leo era ultra tímido, ultra tímido, ¿no?
38:01Incluso compartimos habitación, yo creo que era en Japón.
38:04No articulaba palabra, era super introvertido.
38:11He lived for football, he loved football.
38:15But in his private life, he's very humble.
38:18He doesn't seem like a star.
38:22I consider Leo a very humble guy.
38:26But when he crosses the white line inside, he's a different person.
38:31He just wants to win at any cost.
38:36When I was playing the national team with Leo, he's always been a true leader.
38:41He always played with the same passion when he was 20.
38:46We all know what he's done in football.
38:48But the most important thing for me is always being a great human being.
39:17He was super proud of Madeira and you couldn't speak badly of Madeira.
39:23even in just around him.
39:24He's a hero over there and that's what he's driven by.
39:27He's driven to prove people.
39:29He don't need to prove nothing to no one.
39:31He's won more trophies than most.
39:32He's just built differently.
39:35He yearned for Portugal to win international tournaments.
39:40He wanted to put Portugal back on the football map.
39:53Despite huge success with their clubs, neither of them had won an international title yet.
39:58And given how important their national teams were for them, what it meant for them, that really hurt.
40:07Going into Euro 2016, Ronaldo wanted to make up for all the failures that he viewed as personal shortcomings with
40:14Portugal before then.
40:15The defeat in the Euro 2004 final.
40:18Missing out in a World Cup final in 2006.
40:21Penalty heartache in 2012.
40:32He didn't play at the peak of his powers, but he was needed.
40:38He had to step forward.
40:42He turned into this great team player.
40:45He sort of dragged his country right through that tournament.
40:54Cristiano Ronaldo yearned for this trophy I think more than anything else.
40:59One of the key themes about Cristiano Ronaldo is that he's always thought that he can't be beaten.
41:08Tired him very strongly, Ronaldo driving.
41:12Looks hurt.
41:14This is not how it was supposed to end in France this summer for Cristiano Ronaldo.
41:20Cristiano is unapologetic with his attitude and his demeanor on the football pitch.
41:25But he's emotional.
41:28Where he was trying to drive his team, his country forward from the touchline.
41:36You could see he was kicking every single ball.
41:42This is his time for, I can do more than be an individual legend.
41:46I can do something for my country here.
41:50He wants to be outright the best.
42:07He knows if he wins the Euros with his national team,
42:12has Messi won anything with Argentina.
42:14It's another feather in his cap.
42:20It has been a monumental effort by Cristiano Ronaldo's team.
42:27For all Portugal, the nation was amazing.
42:30But for Cristiano it was special because he tried all these years before and he achieved.
42:45What he wanted more than anything in the world, more than all the Champions League,
42:48more than any of the individual accolades, was to win a major trophy for Portugal.
42:52I don't have any trophies, no Champions League.
42:57This is the most happy moment in my life.
42:58I've already cried three or four times.
43:00Really, even from my heart, I swear to my son,
43:03it's the most happy moment in my life.
43:05I'm really happy, but happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy.
43:08I can repeat it 100 times.
43:10I'm really happy, really happy.
43:12It was the title that was missing in my career.
43:20At the same time, in the Copa America final,
43:26Messi misses a penalty.
43:36So in the cruelest of contrasts,
43:39you get Cristiano Ronaldo winning the European Championships
43:41and Messi missing the decisive penalty in the final of the Copa America.
43:46That was the third final that we lost in a row.
43:51He came out of that tournament thinking,
43:53I don't want to be part of this, this hurts too much.
43:57He was suffering in the national team, because he was not winning.
44:19I think it's hard to express just how much Messi wanted to do well for his country,
44:24and how crushed he was every time he failed.
44:30Back in La Liga, Ronaldo's dominance continues.
44:33Kroos la deja atrás, Cristiano.
44:35Gol, gol, gol, gol, gol, gol, gol, gol, gol, gol, gol, gol, gol.
44:40Real Madrid take the level higher under Zinedine Zidane,
44:44and Messi hates that.
44:46André Gómez ante Carvajal, André Gómez la meta para Jordi Alba.
44:50Messi, Messi, Messi, Messi, gol, gol.
44:52At the Bernabéu, Barcelona wins 3-2,
44:55and Messi grabs his shirt and shows it to the Madrid fans.
45:02That was an iconic moment.
45:04People that are very close to him, including his family,
45:06they were surprised that he would actually do that.
45:09He's not a man of showing off, but there's something inside him saying,
45:14I've conquered you in your own place.
45:18In the popular narrative, Cristiano had been the diva,
45:22and Messi had been the humble servant of Barcelona.
45:25But this was a moment of Messi reasserting his own presence in that rivalry,
45:30saying, for the first time maybe in his entire career,
45:33look at me.
45:34There's a coldness and a coolness about it.
45:39Must have felt Cristiano.
45:40Because in the Super Cup, at the Camp Nou,
45:43Cristiano does exactly the same.
45:46Shows the shirt.
45:51If you needed proof of how much it meant to each other,
45:57to beat each other,
45:59those are the pictures.
46:03Real Madrid began to overshadow Football Club Barcelona.
46:09In that era, 2016-2018,
46:13under Zidane,
46:14they won three Champions League trophies in a row.
46:20To win three in a row, I think, is history.
46:24This time was unbelievable, no?
46:25Because we feel like we will win always, no?
46:28One of the key elements to it was the relentlessness of Ronaldo.
46:33Zidane knew that if he got the best out of Cristiano Ronaldo,
46:36they'd have a machine who won finals.
46:39Bicycle kick from Ronaldo!
46:42He wants to reach every record,
46:45he wants to reach every single title.
46:50These three Champions scored a lot of important goals.
46:54And without him,
46:57it was not possible, sure.
47:17For us, it was a surprise, a big surprise,
47:21because we want to keep with Cristiano a lot of more years.
47:27Cristiano, how are you? How are you?
47:28This moment was hard for the club, for the teammates, for everyone.
47:33Everybody knew an era was coming to an end.
47:37For the two artists, that in that moment,
47:39it was all a success, and that that rivalry
47:41kept for so long,
47:43in that time, the two coincided together.
47:45That period of time, the world was looking at the league.
47:52Leo and Cristiano have changed the Spanish league for forever.
47:55I think they were the ones who were the Spanish league today.
47:59You, together with all the alicenters,
48:01Barça, Madrid, Títulos, Champions, Copas del Rey,
48:04Balón de Oro.
48:06By the time Ronaldo leaves Real Madrid in 2018,
48:10both he and Messi have five Ballon d'Ors apiece.
48:17During the nine seasons they shared together in La Liga,
48:19Ronaldo scored 450 goals in 438 games.
48:24And Messi scored 472 goals in 476 games.
48:30They've just taken it to levels that we've not seen.
48:33That goal-scoring record is just phenomenal.
48:36There's simply been nothing like it in football history.
48:44Ronaldo joins Juventus and sells 520,000 shirts in 24 hours.
48:50Jump to 2021 and Messi arrives in Paris,
48:53shifting 150,000 shirts within seven minutes.
48:58Those are moves that, for the first time in their career,
49:00are more commercially motivated than by football.
49:03You're not buying sporting excellence.
49:06You're buying a one-man economy.
49:08Manchester United welcomes Ronaldo back in August of 2021.
49:12And what happens?
49:13Ronaldo sells almost double the amount that Messi did at PSG.
49:17They're able to pick up, take and export fandom to a whole different place wherever they go.
49:23Messi and Ronaldo aren't just athletes, we know them as a cultural phenomenon.
49:28They're the two most followed people on social media.
49:32Because of their global appeal, they have endorsed, signed, sponsored, hawked, all manner of products that you could imagine.
49:43They are on either side of this sportswear rivalry as well.
49:47Messi with Adidas, Ronaldo with Nike.
49:50Fans are signing up for which values do they align with?
49:55They've become enormous global brands.
49:58And what's so amazing about them is they have to say almost nothing to become the world's biggest pitchman.
50:07The Louis Vuitton chess picture came out right before the 2022 World Cup.
50:12It's known as the picture that broke the internet.
50:17People are seeing something they've never seen before.
50:20The ability to think about them, sat at the same table, what discussions they'd be having.
50:25At that time, people were wondering, would either of them ever win the World Cup?
50:32In Argentina, we are very passionate people about football.
50:37Football is like a religion.
50:40What is your idol as a player?
50:42Maradona.
50:43You have things about Maradona?
50:44Osurdo, Buendominio.
50:46Do you look at Diego in some things?
50:48Do you want to invite him?
50:49No.
50:51When Maradona and Argentina won the World Cup in 86,
50:55Diego brought so much joy to the Argentina people.
50:59In Argentina, Diego is God.
51:02Messi was something else.
51:07For many years, there was enormous pressure on him to perform or be or behave to the expectations of some
51:15nebulous demand to be more Argentinian, to be more passionate, to be more like Maradona.
51:22For a long time, he was uncomfortable with that.
51:28Winning the Cop America in 2021 liberated him. He broke free.
51:35Before everyone was expecting Messi to do everything.
51:40This young team, we understood how to play for him.
51:59But what the Argentinian fans expect from Leo is to win the World Cup.
52:05And they're all at sea suddenly here Argentina and they're now behind.
52:13And they're all at sea.
52:15And they're all at sea.
52:17And they're all at sea.
52:17It's one of the World Cup all time shots.
52:20And it was only a game.
52:22And from there, a new world match for us.
52:27Messi for the range.
52:31Argentina saving him.
52:32For people that we know Messi from long time, we all know that he's the leader.
52:37In that World Cup especially, he was more than that.
52:41He was always a bit angry.
52:45And, well, that's a bit of what people asked him, Leo.
52:49That, well, maybe in this World Cup, people felt more identified with him.
52:54In those gestures, in those feelings, in those ways of expressing what he felt.
52:58Messi.
52:59The lights shone on him just performing.
53:03Alvarez has got his second, made by the master.
53:06A driven, almost obsessed Messi led Argentina all the way through to the final, elevating them with every game.
53:16Meanwhile, Ronaldo and Portugal were knocked out in the quarter-finals.
53:26Most of the world wanted Messi to win the World Cup.
53:31It wasn't Argentina favourites.
53:33It was just Messi.
53:34We want Messi to win it.
53:36What is your dream?
53:37To win the Argentina seleccion.
53:41We saw the madness of the final.
53:42We saw the madness of legacy and history being played out.
53:47And then being ripped up and rewritten.
53:50This is the conclusion of everything.
53:54There was a sense that this was about Messi.
53:57Well, the referee has pointed to the middle and said, goal!
54:00One thing missing from here was the World Cup.
54:02The final has gone to penalties.
54:06Saved by Martinez!
54:09It was as if the entire world was gathered in the Sistine Chapel,
54:13watching Michelangelo, waiting for him to apply the last brushstroke.
54:20It's Argentina!
54:23Kings of football for the third time!
54:47Messi deserves it.
54:49We want to win it because of him.
54:51I think he ends up playing the cielo with his hands.
54:57Leo Messi lifting the World Cup trophy is the most liked photo in the history of the internet.
55:07I think why many people loved it was because it felt like the culmination of a journey.
55:13There were no worlds left for him to conquer.
55:18Messi has the one thing that Ronaldo does not, which is a World Cup.
55:24Now, the question is, well, did Messi win?
55:28Did he win this entire era of football?
55:33The World Cup adds another dimension, another level to the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry.
55:40Who's the GOAT?
55:41Who's the GOAT, Messi?
55:42I think it's done.
55:44Ronaldo.
55:45To me, it was never a debate. Messi's the GOAT?
55:47This is the 10.
55:50Ronaldo.
55:51Ronaldo.
55:53Messi's the best player in the history.
55:55I'm a Messi man, to be honest with you.
55:57What's the Spanish word for GOAT?
55:59La cabra. Of course, Cristiano, la cabra.
56:04The raging, the polarizing, never-ending debate over who is the best
56:10cements their rivalry as the greatest footballers ever seen.
56:15Their influence is so global that entire leagues use them to give themselves legitimacy.
56:22No one has done that more effectively than Saudi Arabia.
56:25They brought Cristiano Ronaldo to play in the Saudi league, had him back their World Cup bid to host in
56:312034.
56:32Of course, Messi coming to enter Miami has completely changed things, right?
56:36It's had the impact that David Beckham really wanted to draw Americans into the sport.
56:41Messi! Messi!
56:42It is ubiquitous to see kids around the country wearing bright pink jerseys with Messi's number 10 on the back.
56:50The rivalry is pushing their wider reach.
56:54We're seeing attendance go up, sales go up, viewership go up, which is extremely powerful and it just shows you
56:59the global impact that they have.
57:01They will sort of forever be inextricably linked in the annals of the game.
57:07They've come to appreciate each other as the co-star of the football drama that they appeared in for the
57:13best part of 20 years.
57:19The first connection they had was one of rivalry.
57:23They wanted to be better than each other.
57:28Along the way, they realized that actually the journeys were very similar.
57:34By chance, by destiny, they shared almost a decade in the same league.
57:40They were competing for the same titles.
57:42They wanted to achieve the same challenges.
57:44The consistency over so many years, I've never seen anything as relentless as it.
57:48The goal to Messi has won.
57:51The goal to Cristiano!
57:52Goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, goal!
57:56The goals that have been won for so many years, the same level,
58:00and the winning the gold game, with many goals, I think it's not going to be back again.
58:06What are the goals that have been played for?
58:10We have been so lucky to live in an era where we have watched those two every single week.
58:19their legacy will be both on the pitch that people follow them and their techniques and
58:23their training and then off the pitch that people are already looking to build their brands like
58:27Ronaldo and Messi have it's not easy to be always at the peak of your game it's basically impossible
58:35but they made it feel like it was possible 100% they knew that they were rewriting the history
58:44books every time they took the pitch he pushed me and I pushed him as well so it's good to
58:50be part
58:50of history of football I'm there and of course he's there as well
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