Lionel Messi: Cristiano Ronaldo helped advance my career

The Argentine star is happy to compete with Cristiano Ronaldo, but says he always competes with himself to be successful.

PSG's attacking star Lionel Messi addressed the Ballon d'Or, which he owned for the seventh time, and also touched on the rivalry between him and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Argentine star recently won the Ballon d'Or, the prestigious individual award of football, awarded by France Football, for the seventh time.

Lionel Messi, who left Barcelona and opened a new page in his career, says that he first competes with himself to be successful.

Making a statement to France Football on the occasion of the Ballon d'Or award, Lionel Messi discussed the early years of his career and said that he never thought of returning to Argentina after he made his way to Barcelona:

"I come from a working-class family, my father worked all day and we lived in a modest neighborhood. But thank God we did not lack anything. My family always instilled in me respect and humility. I grew up with these values. When I came to Barcelona at the age of 13, I valued the same in La Masia. I found it in .

"I was continuing my treatment for a hormone deficiency, but it was too expensive for my family. Then the possibility of going to Barcelona arose."

"When I came to Barcelona, ​​I never thought of returning, although it was not easy to adapt. The first year was very difficult, it's true. But I never thought of returning to Argentina. On the contrary, as time passed and I felt better, I became more convinced of my dream: to be a professional football player... "

Lionel Messi explains why he did not choose Neymar's number 10 jersey after his transfer to PSG:

"Number 10 was for Neymar. I came to a new team to help. It seemed fair to keep number 10. That's why I chose number 30." "I always wanted to compete with myself, not look at what other people were doing. I've been competing in the same league with Cristiano for years. I think it's been great and it helped advance our careers. But without competing with each other. I just wanted to be myself and improve myself without competing with others."