Just a reminder, Xavi was the one that yelled at Messi to "Get your shit together, Leo, or Cristiano is going to win the Ballon d'Or." So. Y'know. Man might be projecting a bit about CR7 pushing Messi to be better.
(Sadly, despite the internet supposedly keeping a record of everything, I can't find this article anymore. It was from back in 2013, after Guardiola left and Messi was letting himself go a bit on the diet-side of things.)
Personally, I find it hilarious that Messi probably didn't really register CR7 as anything other "the annoying fuck who scores during Clásico" and has a tendency to leave out CR7 when naming best current players. It's honestly getting annoying how journalists keep hounding Messi to say something about the rapist when Messi clearly doesn't think one way or another about the guy.
Anyway.
Fútbol rant of the day over.