Speaking in an interview with Marca, the Argentine ace seemed to aim a dig at the Portuguese ace and at a former team-mate with Los Culés.

Some players love to brag about all the things they've done in the world of football, but Lionel Messi is not one of them.

The footballer spoke in a lengthy interview with Marca about why he chooses not to go around calling himself taller than others by what he does on the pitch, which seemed to be a dig at Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo.

"I'd rather people talk about me. I know what I am, what I did and what I can give, but I keep it to myself. People can have their say. I don't like to talk about myself, I like to talk about the collective,"Messi said.

Despite the seemingly respectful relationship between the two most popular players in the world, Messi looked back at some of Cristiano's words earlier this year, where he "challenged" Messi to leave what he called "his comfort zone." Today, Messi did not leave anything to interpretation while having his say about that challenge."

I've never felt the need to leave the best club in the world, which is Barcelona. I enjoy training here, the games and the city. It's the whole package for me. I've always been clear about my objectives here to have to go and look for other goals elsewhere. Each player must try to live their own experiences and search for their own goals," Messi added.

The Argentine referred to how he has dealt with an injury-plagued start of the season, and how this could have an effect on the rest of his career.

"It's hard because inside your head you feel OK. You feel like you're still 25 and you believe you can do the same stuff, but your body changes and there are circumstances where you have to be more careful. Living with that is not easy, and it requires a process to prepare differently for games and training sessions," Messi concluded.