The Messi and Ronaldo show

Posted Wednesday, May 18, 2011 by ESPN

The next day, I asked Josep Maria Minguella, the football scout and player agent who discovered Messi for Barcelona, to confirm my suspicions. He did.

"Leo lives to play, every second, every minute, every match -- it's what he thrives on. He hates not taking part in any game. That's one of the best things about him."

Good old crazy-horse Jose Manuel Pinto, Barca's backup keeper, understood this. He trotted over to put an arm round the little genius's shoulder and eventually convinced him to have a little laugh and join the party.

It was a blip, just a moment in time, and yet another indication that Messi is such a straight-down-the-middle kind of guy that his body language normally speaks louder and more articulately than his words do.

And, interestingly, over at Villarreal's Madrigal stadium that same day, Ronaldo's patent delight at his current, Raging Bull form didn't tell the full story, either. I've spent a good deal of time over the past few days in the company of people who work for Manchester United in various capacities, and they testify that Ronaldo could be much happier than he is at Real Madrid.

Obviously, this does not automatically mean there will be consequences like him misbehaving, sulking or trying to leave.

In fact, Ronaldo has been through a campaign like this before when he was playing his penultimate season at United, scoring almost equal floods of goals en route to winning the EPL, the Champions League and the FIFA World Club Cup. He didn't enjoy playing center forward, he was coping with a foot injury and the guy was regularly phoning his old friend Walter di Salvo, who had preceded his own move to Real Madrid, to ask for fitness tips and general personal support.

Injured, not allowed to go and join Madrid and being played out of position -- Cristiano felt like a martyr at United.

But being down in the dumps didn't adversely affect his form. He cracked in 42 goals in 49 matches.

The frustration he's feeling at Real Madrid has different causes. It's quite obvious, given his words and deeds, that he found the tactics chosen by Jose Mourinho for the "world series of soccer" against Barcelona both frustrating and infuriating.

But Ronaldo's chagrin has not just stemmed from the Clasico matches. His friends at United suggest that he finds Real Madrid less organized than his former club, rife with politics and sporting schisms and with a dressing room that doesn't have the same robust all-for-one spirit that he experienced at Old Trafford.

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