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Barcelona defender Jules Kounde has picked his top five footballers of all time and has named Cristiano Ronaldo and two other Real Madrid legends on the list. According to a post by Barca Universal, the French defender was asked about the top five footballers in history and he named Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldo Nazario, Zinedine Zidane, and Ronaldinho.
"In no order. Messi, Cristiano, R9, Zidane, Ronaldinho," Kounde said.
Interestingly, his list contains two Real Madrid legends, two Barcelona legends, and one player who played for both clubs.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane are two of the biggest names in Real Madrid's history, while Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho have the same stature at Barcelona. Finally, Ronaldo Nazario spent one season at Barcelona and five seasons at Real Madrid.
Real Madrid once allegedly asked Chess legend Magnus Carlsen to name Cristiano Ronaldo as his favorite footballer
Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, considered one of the sport's greatest-ever players, is a Real Madrid supporter.
In an interview with YouTuber Lex Friedman, Carlsen stated that he believes Lionel Messi is the greatest player of all time and explained why he is better than Cristiano Ronaldo.
"I think it’s pretty hard to make a case for anybody else than (Lionel) Messi for his all-round game. My Real Madrid fandom sort of predates the Ronaldo era – the second Ronaldo, not the first one (Ronaldo Nazario). I always liked Ronaldo, but I always kind of thought that Messi was better," commented the chess Grandmaster.
Carlsen also claimed that he was once interviewed by Real Madrid when he went to watch a match and was asked about his favorite footballer. At the time, Carlsen named Spanish midfielder Isco. However, the club reportedly insisted that he also name Ronaldo.
"I went to quite a number of Madrid games, and they’ve always been super helpful to me down there. The only thing is that they were going to do an interview, and they were going to ask me who my favourite player was. I said somebody else. I think it was Isco at that point, and they were like, ‘Okay, take two, now you say Ronaldo.' So for them it was very important, but it wasn’t that huge to me," recalled Carlsen.
