Cristiano Ronaldo is known for speaking his mind, regardless of how many enemies he can get for doing just that. Now, the Portuguese star seems to have created a beef with the Ligue 1.
During his presence at the Globe Soccer Awards, where he took home three prizes, Ronaldo explained how highly he thinks of the Saudi Pro League. In fact, he claimed it’s stronger than the French top-flight.
“The level right now? To be honest, I think the Saudi league is not worse than French league in my opinion,“ Ronaldo said. “In French league I think you have two or three teams with a good level. In Saudi no, I think it’s more competitive. They can say whatever they want, it’s just my opinion, but I played there one year so I know what I’m talking about. But I think right now we are better than French league, so we still improve.”
Many have taken Ronaldo’s comment as a subtle jab at Lionel Messi, since the Argentine star played in France for two years before leaving for Major League Soccer side Inter Miami.
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Either way, the Ligue 1 social media team immediately reacted to Ronaldo’s comment by posting a picture of the Portuguese star with PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe. The post had no caption, but it was seen as a subtle shot at CR7 while suggesting Mbappe is better than him.
Ronaldo put Saudi Pro League above MLS, other European leagues before
This is not the first time Ronaldo defends the Saudi Pro League’s level by ranking it above other competitions. In July 2023, the veteran striker said the Saudi league is better than MLS, claiming it would overtake many European leagues soon.
“I opened the way to the Saudi league, and now all the players are coming here,” Ronaldo said by then, shortly after the likes of Neymar, Karim Benzema, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, and Riyad Mahrez took his talents to Middle East.
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“In one year, more and more top players will come to Saudi. In a year the Saudi league will overtake the Turkish league and Dutch league. I’m 100 percent sure I won’t return to any European club. I’m 38 years old. And European football has lost a lot of quality. The only valid one and still doing good is the Premier League. They’re way ahead of all the other leagues.”
Flash-forward to January 2024, and Ronaldo now dares to claim the Saudi Pro League is already better than the Ligue 1. The Portuguese settled in perfectly at Al-Nassr, recording an impressive 54 goals in 2023.
