I played with Cristiano Ronaldo at Man Utd.. Lionel Messi would have 15 Ballons d’Or if he had my old mate’s work ethic

PATRICE EVRA has claimed Lionel Messi would have 15 Ballon d’Or titles to his name if he had the work ethic of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The ex-Manchester United star played alongside Ronaldo between 2006 and 2009, winning the Champions League and three Premier League titles.

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It has been claimed Lionel Messi would have 15 ballon d’Or titles with Cristiano Ronaldo’s work ethic[/caption]

AFP

The claim comes from Patrice Evra, who said Messi’s ability was gifted by ‘god’[/caption]

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Whereas Ronaldo ‘had to work for it’[/caption]

Evra has consistently sided with Ronaldo in the GOAT debate.

However, he believes the source of their talent is different.

Speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel FIVE, Evra said: “I want to explain why I say Ronaldo every time. It’s not because he’s our brother it’s because I’m in love with work ethic.

“I feel like [with] Messi, god just gave him a talent and Cristiano had to work for it. He had the talent but he had to work for it.

“If Messi had the same work ethic as Cristiano Ronaldo, he would probably have like 15 Ballon d’Ors today.

“I’m just in love with people working hard so that’s why I pick Ronaldo over Messi.”

This work ethic previously led to Evra joking: “don’t ever go for lunch,” to Ronaldo’s.

He explained: “You are going to have one of the most boring lunches at Cristiano’s; it is salad, plain chicken and water. There isn’t even fizzy water.

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“After that, we went into the garden, trained for a little bit, went swimming, went to the sauna and at one point I looked at him and said: ‘Bro, we have just finished a training session, why do we have to a second training session?'”

For many punters the debate ended in Qatar with Messi lifting the World Cup.

However, many, including Evra, continue to back the corner of Ronaldo.