Lionel Messi says Cristiano Ronaldo has ‘adapted’ admirably since rejoining Manchester United in the summer and believes his rivalry with the forward will go down as a ‘beautiful memory’ in football history.
Ronaldo, 36, has found the net nine times for the Red Devils this season but his outstanding form in front of goal could not save Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from the sack, with the club losing six of their last 13 matches in all competitions.
The veteran Portuguese has since passed on his best wishes to ‘outstanding human being’ Solskjaer and his former team-mate, Michael Carrick, has been placed in temporary charge ahead of United’s trip to Villarreal.
All seven of United’s Champions League points thus far have come thanks to late Ronaldo strikes and the attacker – the competition’s all-time top goalscorer – will no doubt be desperate to add to his tally this evening to help lead his side out of their malaise.
Messi has been impressed by the immediate impact Ronaldo has made this term, with the iconic Argentinian only scoring his first league goal on Saturday by comparison.
Asked what he has made of Ronaldo’s start, Messi told Spanish publication Marca: ‘United is a very strong team with great players. Cristiano already knew the club, but it’s in another stage and now he has adapted in an impressive way,’ Messi told Marca.
‘From the beginning he has scored goals as always and had no problems adapting.
‘In the Premier League it is not as good as we all thought, but it is a very difficult and even competition in which things take a lot of turns.
‘After December it changes a lot and anything can happen.’
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