Rivaldo

Rivaldo Exclusive: Lionel Messi's disrespect for PSG is sad to see

  • Rivaldo
  • 4:00 min read
Betfair ambassador Rivaldo and Lionel Messi
Rivaldo was saddened by Messi's behaviour this week

Betfair ambassador Rivaldo says Lionel Messi was disrespectful to Paris Saint-Germain while Cristiano Ronaldo could be an asset to Real Madrid again...

  • Lionel Messi could have avoided PSG problem

  • Ronaldo can be asset to Madrid again

  • Xavi and Barca deserve all the plaudits


Lionel Messi travelled to Saudi Arabia without the Paris Saint-Germain's permission and ended up picking up a two-week suspension from the club.

All indications are that he went to Saudi to settle his contract. Still, I was a little sad to see Messi have this kind of attitude in disrespecting his current club - something that is very unusual for him.

Surely he could have found a better alternative - talking to the club, waiting for Saudi officials to come to Paris or even waiting for the end of the season. To come to an understanding with PSG that would not create an internal problem.

He has always been a great example and his critics have been waiting for something like this to be able to have a go at him. Messi could have avoided this at a stage when Ligue 1 is coming to an end, and his club is closing in on the French title once more.

Ronaldo can be an asset to Real Madrid again

There are rumours indicating that Cristiano Ronaldo is not happy in Saudi Arabia and may already be thinking about a move this summer. Betfair make Real Madrid the favourites to sign him.

I understand that sometimes players go there to sign the big money contracts, but life over there is more closed and football isn't always as easy as you'd hope.

He may be going through a phase of disappointment and even pondering whether the money he's getting makes up for the not so happy life he seems to be leading at the moment.

This happens to all players - Messi may discover this should he move to Saudi - so it would be nice for football to see Ronaldo return to Real Madrid to perhaps finish his career.

Ronaldo Portugal WC.jpg

Of course, the fans need to understand that they won't be able to demand the same from him as when he was 25-26 years old. But he can still help the club win more titles before he retires.

Barcelona deserve to be LaLiga champions

Barcelona are very close to being Spanish champions again four years after their last title. They should to be congratulated for their consistency that forced Real Madrid to focus on other competitions.

To become the Spanish champions, you should always be heavily praised because your closest rivals are so strong, and only by sustaining consistent form throughout the campaign can you succeed.

Sure, we know that Real Madrid ended up relaxing at some point, but that doesn't mean that they didn't want to be champions. Carlo Anceloitt's men simply realised that it would be too difficult to get there and chose to focus on the Copa del Rey and Champions League instead.

Obviously, Madrid would have liked to win LaLiga more than the Copa del Rey, so we do need to congratulate Barcelona for being so strong as to not give their rivals a chance.

Xavi can follow in Guardiola's footsteps

Barcelona manager Xavi should be lauded for the job he has done in this troubled phase of the club, and it just shows his quality, as it is not easy to work with all this noise around the club.

Many say that he can follow in Pep Guardiola's footsteps. We can see in Xavi's methods of coaching and how his teams perform are like his former manager, so we can almost say that Xavi is a student of Guardiola.

However, we must note that Xavi does not have the same team that Guardiola had when he led Barcelona and yet Xavi has still managed to win an important title, even if he is not yet able to fight for the Champions League too.

Xavi has had a fantastic start to his Barcelona managerial career, and I believe he can get close to what Guardiola achieved when he eventually has the opportunity to coach the club in better conditions.

He can help the club fight for the Champions League with the same chance as the biggest clubs in the world.

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