Ronaldo concedes Ballon d’Or to Messi

In a rare show of humility [something he is not known for], Cristiano Ronaldo has conceded the 2015 Ballon d’Or to his greatest rival, Lionel Messi.

The Real Madrid forward, the reigning World Player of the year said, “To be honest I think Messi is going to win this year because this kind of trophy, it depends on votes,” Ronaldo told Jonathan Ross on his show, which will be broadcast tomorrow [Saturday] night.

He argued that he might not win the award because Messi won the treble – La Liga, UEFA Champions League and the Copa del Rey titles with Barcelona last season.

“You win competitions, you win the Champions League you win the league in terms of individual,” he continued.

“I did probably the best season of my career which is good and I was the highest scorer in Europe [but] it’s all about votes, it’s difficult and to be honest I’m not very worried about that because as I said many times, I never thought I’d win three times to be honest.”

He then distanced himself from calling Messi his ‘rival’, saying they respect each other even though they do not visit each other at home.

“I don’t have rivals; we have a normal relationship. We shared this stage at FIFA for eight years. No one has done that in the past — only us — so it’s good. Ronaldo and Messi have been the only winners of the Ballon d’Or in the last eight years.

“I have a good relationship with him, he plays for one club, I play for another club. He won the best for him, I won the best for me.

“We have a good relationship, we are not home friends but we respect each other,” he added. Ronaldo scored 48 league goals last season while Messi scored 43.