Mourinho’s answer to Messi vs Ronaldo debate in 2012 appears to now be correct

Jose Mourinho's comments on the Lionel Messi v Cristiano Ronaldo debate back in 2012 appear to have been proven correct a decade on.

For much of the last 15 years, fans and pundits alike have debated as to who is the best player of all-time between Ronaldo and Messi.

Mourinho's reasoning for siding with Ronaldo back in 2012 now appears to have been proven correct following recent criticism of Messi since he joined Paris Saint-Germain.

The former Chelsea boss argued that Ronaldo worked harder out of the two of them, with Messi recently coming under fire for walking around during matches.

Speaking to The Independent in 2012, Mourinho explained: "It would be a crime for Cristiano to not win the Ballon d'Or. And I keep saying it's harder to be Cristiano than Lionel Messi.

"I'll tell you: Messi grew up in the team he plays for now; with the teammates he plays with now.

“Cristiano came from England to a team that was losing. He had to grow up in the past two years with this team in construction."

At the time, Mourinho was into his third and final season managing Ronaldo at Real Madrid, with his compatriot still being predominantly used as a winger.

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Mourinho felt their positions on the pitch also factored into the debate, adding: "One plays centre forward and the other is a winger.

"Messi is about 50 metres closer to the goal and has less defensive work. How can a winger score the same amount of goals as a centre forward does?

"This is a winger that defends, a winger that ends the game in the 94th minute with a sprint to chase Pedro in a goal scoring position.

"This is a player that, in dead ball situations, comes 20 times to the defensive area.

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He is very important to the defensive set up. He is a player that isn't protected by nothing or nobody. It's much, much harder."

Ronaldo has since gone on to develop into a striker, with his output in front of goal skyrocketing even further since he did so.

As for Messi, he has struggled since moving to PSG in the summer, scoring just one league goal in 12 Ligue 1 appearances this season.

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