Cristiano Ronaldo put aside club rivalry to help out Neymar behind the scenes of the Ballon d’Or ceremony in January, according to Sky Sports presenter Kate Abdo.
Despite being a Real Madrid man, the Portuguese star was the one to offer a helping hand to the Barcelona player, not team-mate Lionel Messi as you might expect.
Ronaldo is extremely competitive – both on and off the pitch – but he still took the time to show the Brazilian around before the glitzy gala event.
“At the Ballon d’Or, which I did in January, we do a little rehearsal with the players before they are going to go on stage for real,” Abdo told Football Beyond Borders.
“Ronaldo came out with Neymar, who is Brazilian and Ronaldo is Portuguese, so they both speak Portuguese, and although Messi and Neymar are team-mates, it was Ronaldo who took him around, showed him where he had to go, made sure everything was translated for him.
“He was just very kind and very caring towards Neymar, the way he looked out for him and made sure he knew what he was doing. That’s a side maybe you don’t expect.”
The kindness did not translate into success for Ronaldo, who had to watch as Messi won the Ballon d’Or award for the fifth time.
The Argentinian received 41.33% of the vote, with Ronaldo second on 27.76% and Neymar canvassing 7.86% of the votes to finish third.
Ronaldo is once again locked into a competition with the Barca stars this season, with the Catalan side currently leading La Liga and 10 points ahead of their rivals.
However, the Portuguese forward is ahead personally on 28 league goals, while Messi has 22 and Neymar 21.
The trio will meet again on the pitch soon, with El Clasico next taking place at the Camp Nou on April 2.
Credit : isoccerng.com
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