Former Barcelona forward Neymar has opened up on his relationship with Lionel Messi describing the Argentine attacker as his idol. He also described Cristiano Ronaldo as a monster.
During his four year stint at the Nou Camp, the Brazilian forward had formed a formidable attacking trio with Messi and Luis Suarez popularly known as “MSN”.
Together their partnership reaped rich dividends for the club as it brought eminent success to the Catalan giants helping them winning three league titles and a Champions League.
The Paris Saint Germain star often drew a comparison with Messi and despite all his efforts, he couldn’t reach the same level as the Argentine superstar. To avoid being submerged under the shadow of Messi Neymar decided to move to the French club in a world record £198m transfer last season.
Neymar said, “Facing Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – and I played with Messi, who is, for me, one of the greatest footballers of all time, and he is my idol in football.
“With Messi, I learned every day, whether during our practice, or playing with him, or just watching him play. And that made me stronger and it increased my capacity on the field because I kept learning a lot from him.
“As for Cristiano Ronaldo, he is a monster. Facing him is a pleasure and an honour, but we have to be more prepared. He is one of the greatest in football so you get smarter, you get alert, but at the same time you learn a lot, too.
“So, they are two of the big guys that I can relate to, because I want to learn, I want more, I want to win, I want more trophies, score more goals … so I keep learning from them every day.”
