Paulo Dybala has revealed that he once hated Cristiano Ronaldo because of the rivalry between him and his countryman Lionel Messi.
Just few players have had the privilege of playing alongside both Cristiano Ronaldo and Inter Miami star Messi.
Dybala is one of these players that have had the chance to play together with Ronaldo and Messi – having played with them at club and international level.
Paulo Dybala spent three years with Ronaldo at Juventus and spoke about a conversation they had in an away game on air.
Paulo Dybala, 29, who currently plays for Serie A side Roma, told Cristiano Ronaldo that he hated him because of the rivalry between him and Messi.
Speaking to Football Italia, he said: “I spent three nice years with Cristiano, the team was very strong and he added something more.”
“There’s a big rivalry between Messi and Ronaldo in Argentina. Once, we were flying out for a game, I was sitting at the back of the plane and he was slightly ahead.”
The Roma star also added: “At some point, he came to me, we spoke about life in general for a while, and I told him: ‘As a kid, I practically hated you.”
“We laughed about it and we’ve always been on good terms.”
Paulo Dybala together with Ronaldo won two Serie A titles and the Coppa Italia during their time at Juventus.
The attacker also won the 2022 FIFA World Cup together with Lionel Messi as well as other international trophies.
Paulo Dybala
Paulo Exequiel Dybala, an Argentine footballer who was born on November 15, 1993, plays forward for both the Argentina national team and Serie A club Roma.
Nicknamed “La Joya” (“The Jewel”), Dybala started his senior club career in 2011 with Instituto de Córdoba.
In 2012, at the age of 18, he signed with Palermo, where he won a Serie B championship. Dybala joined Juventus in 2015 and went on to win four Italian Cups and five league championships.
He is Juventus’ ninth-highest goalscorer of all-time. He was also chosen as the Serie A Most Valuable Player once and was a member of the Serie A Team of the Year four times.
Paulo Dybala made his senior international debut for Argentina in 2015 at age 21, and has since earned over 30 caps, including appearing at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, 2019 Copa América and 2022 World Cup, winning the latter.
Ronaldo And Messi Rivalry
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are seen as iconic figures in football and also known as the greatest footballers of their generation.
The players have shown distinct playing styles, and they have both reached a milestone that will be difficult to break.
The rivalry between them heightened when Ronaldo moved to Spain and spent 9 seasons playing for Real Madrid.
Ronaldo recently brought the curtains down on their rivalry, saying that the intense battle between him and Messi had ended.
Ronaldo in a press conference, said: “The rivalry is gone. It was good, the spectators liked it. Those who like Cristiano Ronaldo don’t have to hate Messi and vice versa.”
“We’ve done well, we have changed the history of football. We are respected all over the world; that’s the most important thing,” Ronaldo concluded.
